My Secret Little Sunshine
by GingerFlight
Summary: I'm Sonny Munroe, a normal 16 year old girl from Wisconsin. Mom thought it'd be good for me to have a diary. But ever since I got you, things have gone bad. A drama snob moved here, I have to work with my enemy, and worse, I CAN'T FIND MY SOCKS!
1. September 4th

**Summary: ****I'm Sonny Munroe, a normal 16 year old girl from Wisconsin. Mom thought it'd be good for me to have a diary where I can write down all my wacky thoughts. But ever since I got you, things have gone bad. A snobby actor dude moved here from Hollywood, I have to work with my sworn enemy, and worse, I CAN'T FIND MY SOCKS!**

**I was thinking today about what if Sonny had never become an actress and she kept a diary about her life in Wisconsin, and this is what I came up with! ^^ In this story, though, So Random! never existed. Nico, Grady, and Zora won't be in here either, because they wouldn't have any purpose if they were in the story. But we'll see, I might change my mind. **

**So seeing as this was just a random idea I came up with for fun, I'll probably only write when I feel in the mood for it, so don't expect any quick updates. I'm focusing mostly on New Girl on Set, though, like my other story, I intend to finish this one, too, no matter how long it takes.**

**Yes, there will be Channy. Because no SWAC story is complete without Channy! (just my opinion)**

**Beware: Sonny will ramble. I actually have a diary myself, and I sure as heck ramble in mine.**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize in this story probably doesn't belong to me, no matter how much I want it to.**

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September 4

_Dear diary..._

I can't believe Mom made me get a diary. I really can't believe it. I told her specifically that I was fine without one, that I could remember everything that happened in my life without writing it down. I mean, come on. I don't even have a very interesting life. It's not like anything's going to happen that I need to write about.

But Mom said that with a diary, I'd be able to write down my innermost thoughts and feelings, be able to show my love for all sorts of things that matter most to me without even telling anyone...

To which I replied for about the fourth time, "Mom, I don't want a diary."

Then she told me if I didn't get one she'd ground me.

Although my mom is totally awesome, she can be so, so cruel.

Which is why I'm now sitting on my bed, writing in you.

I mean, I guess I can see where Mom's going with this. With you, I can write down all the weird and random ideas I get every day. I can blabber on and on about the least important things ever, and you wouldn't care because you're just a book with blank pages. An inanimate object.

Like, I could talk about... bees! Yeah, I could rant about bumblebees and how they're annoying buzzing freaks me out so bad that I want to run away screaming every time I see or hear them. I could write a whole paragraph about how much I hate bees, and it wouldn't matter to you at all.

Yeah, I can see it. Hmm. My mom actually had a good idea. It helps when you look on the bright side of things, doesn't it? Guess the four bucks I paid for you didn't go to waste after all!

Oh, I just realized, you don't even know who I am. I probably don't need to introduce myself, seeing as it's not like you can greet me or anything... but whatever. I'll tell you about myself anyway, just for the heck of it.

I'm Sonny Munroe, a normal, typical 16 year old girl from Wisconsin. Actually, my name's Allison, but everybody I know calls me Sonny (unless it's the head cheerleader, who decided years ago that she hated me and has decided to use my real name when talking to me to annoy me. More about her later). It suits me, because I'm usually always cheerful and optimistic. Like the sun. Get it? Heh...

So I've lived in Wisconsin my whole life. It's just my mom and me. My dad left us when I was really young. I don't remember him at all. But you know, that's ok, because I don't even want to remember him. He was probably a big jerk to have left us like that. I really hate jerks. Yeah, I'm basically saying I hate my dad. And you rarely hear me saying that, since I'm a pretty forgiving person and don't hold grudges against people. But he deserves it! If he'd cared, he would've stayed with us, simple as that.

Ahem. Anyway. Enough about that guy. I'll tell you about my mom now!

All you've heard about her so far is that she forced me to buy you. Well, she has the tendancy to force me to buy a lot of things, half of which I really don't want, but that's her only flaw. At least, I think it is. She's a lot like me, you know. I mean, she's happy, almost always looking on the bright side of things, and jokes around a lot. We rarely get into fights, and when we do, we get over it really quickly.

Mom's in her mid-thirties, but she still looks pretty young. To me, anyway. Not just on the outside, but on the inside, too. Personality wise.

Yeah, so she's the best mom ever.

BOO YAH!

I felt like adding that in.

Hmm... I guess I should fill you in on school too, huh? Ok, then.

I go to the great Franklin High! Yes, it's absolutely fabulous! (*coff being sarcastic coff*)

All right, so it's not that fabulous. It's basically like any other high school. You know the type. (Oh, wait, you don't know... because you're an inanimate object. Gosh, Sonny, why is that so hard to remember?) Our school's one of those places where sports are a big deal. If you're not good at at least one sport, you're a loser.

I'm not very coordinated when it comes to sports. For some reason, the balls always seem to find their way to me during gym, like I'm some kind of magnet that's attracting them. Though I'm starting to suspect that the kids are throwing them at me on purpose. But I'm fairly decent at shooting hoops, so the school year isn't too particularly painful for me.

We're divided into the basic groups at your usual high school. There's the jocks, the high and almighty ones, who the cheerleaders worship. Then come the cheerleaders themselves, who take their place beside the jocks during lunch. Personally, I think they're worse than the jocks. They think they rule the school, and they're all high and mighty. Especially the head cheerleader, who I think I mentioned earlier. Tawni Hart. She moved here from California about four years ago after her parents divorced. Her mom wanted to get as far away as possible from Tawni's dad, so they came here. Tawni hates Wisconsin. How do I know this? Because at least twice a day she turns to her fellow cheerleaders and says loudly enough for anyone within three feet to hear, "I hate Wisconsin."

Did I mention she also tries to make my life a living hell? (Key word being 'tries'.)

Eh, never mind. I'm not even finished telling you about the groups of the school and I'm already ranting about the "queen bee". Blegh.

So next comes the popular people, which basically are the jocks and cheerleaders with the exception of some people who randomly became popular somewhere down the line; the kids from the drama department, who just _loooovvveeee_ being the center of attention; the punks, goths, and emos; computer geeks, and nerds and brainiacs.

I'm not in any of those groups. Because being in a specific group is stupid. I mean, why is it that you have to be in a group anyway? It's not a law, so why does everyone do it? I'll never understand it...

But, like I said, I'm not in a group. At lunch, when all the jocks sit with the jocks, etc., etc., I sit at a table with my best friend, Lucy.

I've been best friends with Lucy since Kindergarten. We met when she lost her new box of crayons. She was all upset about it, and to cheer her up I gave her a lollipop.

Ah... what I wouldn't give for the good old days, when we were so young, so innocent and cute...

Anyway, Lucy and I stick close to each other. We don't care about the dumb status quo. I'm my own person and it's the same with her. We don't need some snobby populars to tell us who we are, because we already know who we are!

So HA!

...

There's not much more I have to say about Franklin High. I could talk about the teachers, I guess, but... nah, I'll save it for tomorrow. It's the first day of school tomorrow, by the way. (Insert dramatic sigh here) Yay... can't wait...

Though I hope I'm in Mr. Pike's homeroom. He's pretty cool. For a teacher.

Oh, do you think I should tell Lucy about you? Although she's my best friend, she might laugh at me for having a diary.

...Just to be on the safe side, I think I'll keep you a secret for now. Diaries are supposed to be secret, right?

Oh my GOSH, I just randomly turned on the TV, and Victorious is playing! I love that show! I don't care what anyone says, it's totally awesome, and I have to watch it because apparently this is a new episode!

I'll write in you tomorrow diary, because after this I'm probably gonna hit the sack. Ciao!

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**Review please! Constructive criticism is appreciated. :3**


	2. September 5th

**Hmmm... I updated quickly. Weird. Well, I had inspiration for this next chapter, so I thought, 'Why not?' The beginning's a lot of rambling, since I was pretty hyper when I started writing this, but somewhere in the middle is when everything really starts, seeing as the last chapter was just Sonny introducing herself. **

**So thank you to hubbabubba. ouch , TeddyLuver, and timbermoonkiss for putting this story on their alerts! And special thanks to timbermoonkiss, for being my first reviewer! :D By the way, you pointed something out about how the teacher's name was missing, which I didn't notice until then. I fixed it, and the teacher's name was Mr. Pike. Just to let you guys know.**

**Ok, so I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I could own SWAC, but sadly, I do not. **

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September 5

_Dear diary..._

I was thinking that maybe I should give you a name. I mean, if I keep on calling you diary, it's going to get so boring after a while. And besides, everyone's gotta have a name, even an inanimate object like you! Because I bet having the name Diary sucks. If any parent named their kid Diary, the poor thing would probably be teased for the rest of his or her life!

Does a diary even have parents? Well, you're made out of paper, and paper comes from trees... so your parents were trees! I think.

And who even made up the word 'diary'? It's an odd word, if you think about it. Like, stretch out the word like this: Diiiii-aaa-ryyyy. It's like a shortened version of the word 'diarrhea'!

Wow, I get off track easily. Ok, back to the point: I have to find a name for you. And since I'm pretty sure you're a girl diary (your cover is decorated with flowers, and if you were a boy diary your cover would be decorated in, say, monster trucks. Then again, you might be a _gay_ boy diary... ew, no, you're not), then I'll have to try and find a really awesome girl name for you!

Maybe I should search names on the internet...?

You know what, that whole paragraph was pointless. You're probably bored out of your little pages listening to me jabber. Well, not really listening, since I'm not talking, but you get the picture.

What you probably want to know is how my day's been going, yes?

Well, it's homeroom and I'm sitting in Ms. Bitterman's classroom at the moment, writing in you. (Yeah, I got her as my homeroom teacher, not Mr. Pike. Darn.) Everyone else is just talking about their summer vacation or texting. It's a good thing Ms. Bitterman isn't in here, or else she'd give everyone detention. Even me, although I didn't do anything. She's just mean like that. But I'm sure somewhere deep, deep, _deep_ down, she's actually a really nice lady. Maybe.

So. About my morning.

Well, I woke up after hearing my alarm beep and sat in bed for, like, four minutes, wondering why I'd set the alarm to go off so early. Then I remembered that today was the first day of school, which didn't really make me all too eager to hurry up and get ready. I brushed my hair, trying to get out the tangles, then I plodded down the stairs, into the kitchen, and slumped down into a chair. Mom was already awake, humming as she dropped some fried eggs and bacon onto a paper plate. Setting it down in front of me, she said brightly, "First day of school today! Are you excited?"

I honestly couldn't see how Mom could be so cheerful so early in the day. I'm not really a morning person, which most people think is weird, seeing as my name, Sonny, says otherwise.

I grumbled something in response and poked the bacon with my fork.

Mom grinned at me. "I guess not."

I groaned at her. "Mom, could you please say something encouraging instead of smirking at me?"

She pretended to pout. "Fine." she twirled the spatula she was holding before saying, "Sweetie, don't worry about the school year. I know that you'll stay strong, continue to be your own person, and survive without getting any serious injuries."

I grimaced at the last thing she said. About serious injuries. Last year during PE, we were playing dodgeball, and I was doing my best to do just that: dodge the ball. Unfortunately, the ball ended up hitting my in the face and I got a big bruise on the side of my cheek. Ok, so that's not a serious injury, but it still HURT. So that counts.

"Thanks, Mom," I told her.

"Anytime, honey," she replied.

After I ate, I plopped my butt down in front of the TV and turned it on. I flicked through the channels randomly, not sure which one I wanted to watch.

Mom poked her head into the living room. "Sonny, shouldn't you be getting dressed right now?" Her tone sounded reproving.

I nodded. "Yeah. But..." I racked my mind for a better excuse than the one I was thinking of at the moment, which was 'I don't want to get ready, because all I want to do is stay home and sit on the couch all day.' Obviously not an excuse you'd tell your mother. Finally, I said, "I want to look at what's on the news."

She shrugged. "Oh. Well, there's no harm in that, I suppose." She came to sit down beside me, and I flicked the TV onto Channel 15 for the news. The newslady's face (I forget what her name is. Martha something) immediately filled up the screen.

"And now for the big news that everyone's talking about," Martha whateverherlastnameis was saying with a big smile on her face. "Guess who's coming to our own Wisconsin? The famous Hollywood teen actor, Chad Dylan Cooper!"

If I'd been drinking water at that moment, I probably would've spat it out all over Martha's face.

Have I told you about Chad Dylan Cooper? No, I haven't. I would've remembered if I had.

Chad Dylan Cooper can be described in one word: HOT.

No, seriously, it's true. Granted, there are some hotter guys out there, like Taylor Lautner, the guy who plays Jacob in Twilight. Or Jackson Tyler, who's hotter than all of them put together! (I'll print out a picture of him off the internet and tape it inside you, that way we can both admire his hotness, ok?)

Chad Dylan Cooper has lush golden hair and really, really blue eyes. I've never seen them up close, but that's what they look like on TV. Apparently he's Hollywood's player, but I don't really believe that. He looks too nice and sweet to be a player. Yeah, and he's the star of this TV show called Mackenzie Falls. It's a drama, and it is awesome! Although I like comedies way better, I still find the time to watch it. I squeal when a new episode comes out. Yes, I do squeal. And I've got the season set on DVD!

I love that show.

And Chad Dylan Cooper is awesome. All the girls at school adore him. Except maybe Lucy. She doesn't seem to care too much about him. At school, I act like I don't care about him either, because I don't want to seem like a crazed fangirl like the cheerleaders, but still. How can anyone not be a fan of him?

And he's coming to Wisconsin.

Those were some of the best words I've ever heard in my whole life.

And guess what even better words came out of Martha's mouth next, diary?

"Chad Dylan Cooper will be shooting a movie here this month," she informed us in a perky voice, "Although he's a superstar and will be busy filming, apparently his parents want him to have some down time, to have the life other teenagers have while he's here. So if you go to Franklin High School, you're in for a big treat, because Chad Dylan Cooper will be attending your school for the next few months!"

I literally stopped breathing. I must've looked funny, seeing as I was leaning so close to the TV I was about to fall off the sofa, with my mouth open and my eyes looking like they were about to pop out of my head. (That's how my mom described it later, anyway)

I switched off the TV as Martha stopped to let the weatherman take over and tried my best not to hyperventilate.

Mom gave me an amused look. "Now are you excited about the first day of school?"

I managed a nod. HECK YEAH, I WAS EXCITED!

I love Martha from the news. I really do.

After I'd gotten over my shock at the announcement that one of my favorite actors was going to be attending my school, I was in a considerably more cheerful mood. I pranced upstairs, humming the tune of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" as I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and pulled on some jeans and a plaid T-shirt (I love plaid! Did I mention that already?). My good mood lasted until I pulled open the sock drawer.

My smile disappeared, and I ran out of the room to yell down the stairs, "Mom, have you seen my socks?"

"Which ones?" came her reply.

"The ones that's all colorful with a rainbow and a cute little sun at the top! The ones you gave me for Christmas!"

"Oh, that. I dunno, sweetie, it's probably in the laundry."

I went back into my room and looked through the sock drawer again, just in case I'd missed it. Nope, it wasn't there.

I'm sure you don't get it. I mean, who cares if my socks are in the laundry? Well, I do! This is my favorite pair of socks! I always make an effort to wear it as much as I can, because they're my good luck charm. I use them on testing days and on days when we have dodgeball during gym class. Those socks are the key to my survival throughout the school year!

Well, it's one day. I can survive through the day without my socks. Yeah. It's not that big a deal. I'd just get them out of the laundry when I came back home. Problem solved.

So I just put on a pair of one of my plain, boring white socks and my black converse sneakers. Although my bad mood had returned a bit again (it didn't come back completely, because I still wasn't over the fact that Chad Dylan Cooper was coming to my school), I grabbed my booksack and trundled down the stairs. I kissed my mom's cheek in goodbye, then walked out the door.

I don't live that far from school. Not really. Which is why I walk there. I'd drive, but I don't have a car. Ah, it would be so much easier if I could just drive there... first I have to find a car, though. Well, actually, first I have to raise enough money to buy one, since I don't have any. Money, I mean. Note to self: Get a job so I can get a car.

I jogged across the empty lot next door. Our old neighbors had moved away a month ago to New Jersey, so the house was for sale. It's actually in pretty good shape. I'm surprised no one's bought it yet. But whatever, it's not my concern.

I'm just gonna skip the part where I walked to school, since nothing exciting happened, other than me finding a penny. (YESS! I already have one cent! I'm on a ROLL!)

I made my way through the cluster of kids hanging around in front of the school and entered through the double doors. I looked around, checking to see if Lucy was here yet. We usually meet every school morning in front of the lockers, but I didn't see her there. She was probably late. I took out my schedule from my backpack and checked to see which class I had first.

Then the cheerleaders apparently saw me by myself and took the opportunity to come and harass me.

Tawni Hart's voice made me glance up from the schedule. "Look, girls, it's Allison Munroe. Isn't she wearing the ugliest shirt ever?" She smirked at me, flipping her blonde hair.

One of her fellow cheerleaders added in with a sneer, "Plaid is _so _last year."

Tawni held up a perfectly manicured finger. "Actually, it was never in." The girls automatically giggled at her comment.

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms. I don't let Tawni get to me. Not all the time. Sometimes what she says really does hurt, but I'm not the kind of girl that just takes this kind of stuff without standing up for myself. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" All right, so that wasn't the best comeback. But at least I _said _something. A lot of other girls in this school would run away crying their head off if Tawni insulted them.

"Actually, yes, so you should be glad I'm gracing you with my prescence," she responded primly. I almost snorted. Gracing me with her prescence? Yeah, right.

Suddenly ignoring me, Tawni turned to the other girls, her voice rising in excitement. "Did you hear the news this morning? Chad Dylan Cooper's coming to our school!" She flipped her hair again. (She likes flipping her hair, if you've noticed. That's just how self-centered she is.) "I bet by the time this month is over we're going to be the most popular couple in the whole school." Her troup of cheerleaders immediately began nodding their heads in agreement.

Ugh. I felt like gagging. First of all, those cheerleaders are so fake. They hang on Tawni's every word and agree with her on everything, no matter what it is. Don't they even have minds of their own? It's like their whole lives are dedicated to being just like Tawni. And second, Tawni thinks she and Chad will become a _couple? _Ha!

I laughed out loud, and of course Tawni noticed. She turned back around to face me, her eyebrow raised. "You don't think so? You think he'll want to go out with _you _instead, is that it?"

I didn't answer. I don't have to answer to Tawni. Though, you know, now that I think about it, that totally wouldn't be a bad idea... it would probably never happen, but I can dream, can't I?

Tawni continued in a sneering tone, "He wouldn't go out with a dork like you. You're out of his league. I, on the other hand, am definitely pretty enough for him."

I replied evenly, "Well, I doubt he'd want to go out with a girl who finds a new guy to date every week. I wonder who fits that description?" I smiled innocently at her.

She narrowed her eyes at me in response, then said in a sweet voice layered with venom, "Be careful what you say, Allison. I still rule this school."

We both glared at each other for a few seconds, then Lisa, one of the other cheerleaders, told me, "You're shoelace is untied."

I glanced down, and she pointed at me and said proudly, "Ooh, I fooled you! I _showed_ her, didn't I, Tawni?"

I stared at her. I swear, that girl gives a whole new meaning to dumb blonde. Tawni gave Lisa a look that showed she was thinking something along the same lines as me, then gave me one last glare as the bell rang. "Come on, girls." She strutted off as though she were some kind of model, with her group of girls walking quickly after her.

I sighed and rolled my eyes again, then headed off to homeroom just as the principal began announcements over the intercom.

Which brings me to now. I'm surprised Ms. Bitterman didn't arrive earlier. Oh, well, gives me more time to write in you!

Lucy still hasn't come in yet, though, so I'm kinda worried. I hope she's not sick or anything. But I just talked to her on the phone yesterday, and she seemed fine...

Oh, the class just went quiet, which means Ms. Bitterman's gonna walk in any moment! I'll try to find time to write in you later, ok? Bye!

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**So... did you like it? Hate it? What do you guys think about Tawni, and what do you think's going to happen when Chad comes to Franklin High? Do see anything I should fix or have any predictions? Review and tell me, please!**


	3. September 5th part 2

**Next chapter's up! Sorry for the wait, my family and I were in Colorado last week for vacation. Luckily, it gave me time to think up new ideas for the story, so I should have new chapters up soon.**

**Thank you to _hubbabubba. ouch_, _timbermoonkiss_, _TeddyLuver_, _Kate x33_, _kitty with a chance_, and _Harryfan94_ for reviewing! I was so happy when I saw that I got more reviews than the first chapter. You guys are awesome!**

**Enjoy!**

**Oh, by the way, who saw Falling For the Falls 1 and 2? 8D I nearly died laughing while watching both episodes. Part two was epic! So many Channy moments... it made me feel dizzy. xD I fell off the sofa during a fit of laughter when Chad threw up on Sonny. It went on and on and on, and I just cracked up!**

**I will never get tired of watching those two episodes. Ever.**

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Well, diary, I'm now in Mr. Richard's classroom (he's the History teacher). You know, I think I should actually be paying attention to what Mr. Richard is saying, since we're most likely going to have a quiz on this stuff sometime next week... but that's a risk I'm gonna have to take. Because if I try to listen to him, his droning voice will put me to sleep in two seconds flat. Luckily, Mr. Richard is always so intent on his lesson that he jabbers away without even noticing that no one's paying attention. And I'm sitting in the back where he can't see me, so... I doubt I'll get in trouble for writing in you. Unless someone rats me out.

Which would suck.

Ok, well, nothing much has happened so far. Unless you count the fact that it's just the first day and I've already got tons of homework. There should be a law against teachers giving that much homework on the first day. I understand that homework helps us to become better at our studies, but come ON! This is totally insane! This much homework during the middle of the year is understandable, but at the beginning!

How do they even expect us to finish all this by tomorrow?

Gosh. Teachers can be so aggravating.

Oh, by the way, Lucy managed to get to school. Though she arrived two hours after it started because (according to her) she overslept and wasted time redressing since she put on her clothes inside-out. Then she got in her car only to find out that it wouldn't start and was then forced to drive her dad's old car to school, which is _really_ slow.

And then when she got to class the teacher gave her a Friday detention since she was late.

Poor Lucy.

Then it was my turn to get the daily dose of bad luck during lunch. We were having nachos, which is usually a good thing, since nachos are totally awesome. Yum. I love them. But Tawni Hart's nacho plate "accidentally" got hurled through the air and landed right into my face. Tawni ran up to me and she was all like 'I'm so, so sorry, Allison, I didn't mean to!' and blah blah blah. But the only reason she did that was because a teacher happened to be in the lunchroom at the time. If it hadn't been for that, she and her minions would've been giggling and mocking me. It was so obvious that her little apology was fake. I felt like dumping my own nachos on her blonde head, but 1) I'm not the kind of person that does that, 2) even if I was that kind of person, the teacher was still there and would most likely give me an immediate detention, and 3) I really wanted to eat my nachos. I mentioned I love nachos, yes?

So I just smiled at her and pretended that I totally understood.

I retreated to the bathroom and washed the nacho sauce off my face, then went back over to my table with Lucy and acted as though nothing had happened.

I must have pretty ok acting skills, because the teacher didn't look over at me suspiciously and say something like 'Are you sure you aren't secretly plotting revenge on Tawni?'. Which I could deny easily, since I wasn't, but... you know, it saves you time and trouble when the teachers aren't breathing down your neck and accusing you of dumb things.

So nothing much really happened during the rest of the day. Lucy and I partnered up during a group activity in science, and if Tawni was in any one of my classes, I just acted like I didn't know she was there. She stopped bugging me after a while.

Hmm. I remember my Aunt Fanny once told me that if I kept practicing at acting, it would pay off in the end. And she was right!

Ah, Aunt Fanny. She's not actually my aunt, though. I mean, she would be, if she were actually related to me... I started calling her my aunt when I was really young, because I didn't know any better, and the name stuck. She was just a close family friend, I guess. She was awesome! When I was younger, I'd somehow always be able to make her laugh, and in reward she'd give me a piece of gum. A _free _piece of gum, I should say. How much awesomer can you get?

I don't see her much anymore.

Mainly because she, um... died...

So, I repeat, nothing much is going on. Agh, when will this hour end? If Mr. Richard talks any longer, he might just

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Eh. Sorry my last sentence got cut off. The bell rang, and I had to hurry and stuff you in my booksack so I could get the heck outta there. I can't remember what I was going to say there, so I won't even be able to finish that sentence. Sorry. Again.

School's over already, by the way. I'm just sitting on the couch at home, snacking on cheetos and watching reruns of I Love Lucy. And, of course, writing in you. Because if I wasn't writing in you, then none of these words would be appearing on the page...

I really should be doing homework right now. I really should. But that doesn't seem like a very appealing idea.

So. Nothing much has happened at the moment. Except if you count Mom coming back from grocery shopping. That's... pretty much it...

Wow. I've got a seriously boring life.

Well, I should be happy. I'm luckier than a lot of people. I've got friends, a loving mother, a lovely little home... what more could I ask for?

I'll tell you what more I can ask for. An interesting life.

But whatever. I shouldn't complain.

Oh, no, Mom's coming in the living room! She doesn't know I'm eating cheetos (which I'm not supposed to eat before supper)! I better hide the evidence!

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Mom won't stop talking about her trip to Wal-Mart. It's getting a bit annoying.

Apparently she wasn't watching where she was going and almost bumped into some lady with her cart, nearly slamming her right into the aisle of soup cans. But the lady was smart and managed to dodge the cart. Good for her.

So then this event somehow makes Mom and the lady become friends, and Mom learns that this woman has come from some-place-that-I-don't-know-of (I kinda zoned out as Mom was telling this part) and has rented a house here in Wisconsin. Something about doing a project...? I dunno. But apparently she's got a kid around the same age as me.

Like that's supposed to matter to me.

Really, the chances are I'll never meet this kid. So who cares?

Not me.

No, what I really care about is getting my homework done. I still have to finish algebra and geometry homework (thank you so much for giving us a big workload, Ms. Bitterman), science, history, and an English paragraph about how my summer was.

The easiest is English. The hardest is geometry.

One of the questions is, "What is a kite?"

My first guess was "A kite is a diamond shaped object that you attach to a string in order to let it soar through the air, until you happen to lose your grip and it flies off into the distance".

It would be a totally acceptable answer, seeing as that is kinda what it is. But that kind of kite has nothing to do with the geometry, so it'd probably be wrong. And then Ms. Bitterman doesn't have a funny bone in her body, so she wouldn't find it amusing at all.

And her first name is Joy.

The irony.

So, I'm clueless as to what a kite is.

Sure, I could ask Mom for help, I guess. But I always need her help with geometry homework, and it makes me feel pathetic. It's not even funny.

Unfortunately, I'm not capable of figuring out what a kite is all by myself. So...

I MUST CHEAT.

TO THE INTERNET!

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It's 9:00. I found out what a kite is two hours ago. But I don't even care. You know why?

I CAN'T FIND MY LUCKY SOCKS.

I looked for it in the laundry right after I searched up 'kite' on Google, but it wasn't there! So I tore my room and the living room apart searching for it. It's not here. I don't know where it went.

This is bad. This is really, really bad.

Without my lucky socks... my luck is gone! What'm I gonna do?

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I sound like a crazed superstitious person. But you don't understand. Those socks are seriously lucky. Every time I wore them, at least one good thing happened.

Like last year, on the last week of school, when I wore them to PE, we were about to play dodgeball. I hate dodgeball. The ball somehow always finds its way to my face. Oh, wait, I mentioned that a few pages back... eh. Whatever. Well, we were choosing teams, and I was one of the last to be picked. I was praying that I somehow wouldn't have to be in the game, when, like some miracle, my mom called in from the office, saying she was picking me up early. I nearly fainted from happiness.

Ooh, and then one time, when we had a pop quiz in science, I didn't know any of the answers and just guessed. And I got every single on of them right! I know, it was so awesome!

The list goes on and on and on...

Say, remember what I said earlier, about that nacho plate landing in my face? _That's_ probably why it happened, because I didn't have my socks on!

So I need my socks. If I can't find them, my school year's going to miserable. I cannot let that happen.

But Mom told me to calm down, saying, "Honey, if it's not here, then Lucy probably has it. Don't worry about it, it'll turn up sooner or later."

She's probably right, I guess. At least, I hope she is.

As long as it turns up sooner rather than later, I'll be happy.

Well, I'm gonna hit the sack. I didn't finish my English paragraph, but I'll do it during homeroom tomorrow. G'night, diary!

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**Short chapter, I know... a bit of a filler, actually. The lady Sonny's mom met in Wal-Mart has something to do with what happens next... *wink***

**Review please!**


	4. September 6th

**I managed to update this story too! Yess...**

**Although this chapter is kind of a filler, some important things do happen. The last part is probably the most important thing of all...**

**Thank you to everyone that reviewed, and thanks to anyone else that has been reading this story so far! You guys are great. ^^**

**Enjoy!**

**(By the way, did you guys see Sonny with a Secret? I loved it! Especially Penelope... her insanity amuses me.)**

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September 6

_**1:20 P.M., English class**_

_Dear Diary,_

So, as you can see, from now on every time I write an entry in you, I'll put where I am and the time I'm writing in you at the top of the page. Does that sound confusing? Probably, but I'm sure you get what I mean.

Anyway, on to more important things.

First of all, no, I haven't thought of a name for you. Yet. But when I do, it'll be a totally epic name that'll PWN all other epic names!

Second, I found a dollar lying in the hallway during third period, practically begging for me to pick it up. So I did. I now have $1.01. New car, here I come!

Or... used car. Because that's probably less expensive...

And third, no luck with finding my special socks. I'm freaking out here. Well, it may not seem like I'm freaking out, because I'm not writing in capital letters or using a ton of exclamation points, but I'm panicking on the inside. Yup.

This morning, the minute I saw Lucy by her locker (which is basically right next to mine), I yelled loudly, "Hey, Lucy!" People turned their heads and stared at me as though I were some insane idiot, but I didn't care at the time. Making a beeline for her, I said, "Lucy, I need to ask you something."

Lucy plucked out some pens from her locker and shut the door, remarking, "Shoot."

"Shoot what?" I asked blankly, momentarily forgetting about my urgent question.

Lucy grinned in amusement. "Just ask the question, Sonny."

"Oh, ok." I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst. Or the best. Whichever. "'HaveyouseenmysocksIcan'tfindthemsohaveyouseenthem?" My words tumbled out in a rush.

If Lucy had been any other girl, she would've asked me to repeat myself more slowly, like a normal person. But since Lucy often has hyper moments and talks really fast during those said moments, she understood what I was saying. She nodded casually. "Yep."

I nearly fainted from relief. But instead I just grabbed her shoulders and shook her. Not too hard, though. "Where are they!" My voice sounded desperate, even to me.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Um... they're on your feet, Sonny."

I froze, completely shocked. Had I somehow put on my lucky socks this morning and forgot about it? How in the world could I forget something like that? Maybe I'd put them on without realizing I had? How was that even possible?

(Just a little insight on my thoughts during that moment.)

I quickly got over my surprise and looked down at my feet. All I saw were my sneakers and... some plain white socks that I'd thrown on this morning.

"Those aren't the socks!" I told Lucy.

She shrugged. "Well, maybe if you actually described the socks..."

I waved my hands around in the air. "You know! My lucky rainbow socks with the little suns knitted onto the ends, the one that my mom gave me for Christmas! Remember?"

Lucy snorted with laughter. "Oh, yeah, that's right, those tacky socks you always insist on wearing..."

I gasped. "Don't talk about them that way!"

She ignored me. "Nope, haven't seen them. Sorry, Sonny." She patted me on the back. "But I'm sure they'll turn up sooner or later. You can't lose something like those hideo - I mean, beautiful socks," she backtracked when she saw my glare. "Those socks are just... so beautiful."

I cracked a smile. "Nice save." Then I sighed. "Well, thanks anyway, Luce."

"No problem," Lucy said brightly, then her face fell as the bell rang. "Ugh. Class is starting. Here comes another hour of torture with Mr. Richard," she groaned.

"At least you don't have Ms. Bitterman," I added glumly.

Anywho, we parted and went to our respectable classes, with me trying to remember where I'd last left my socks and also dreading how the rest of the day would go.

Yaddah yaddah yaddah. A few hours pass, blah blah blah, and then lunch arrives.

Oh, lunch. I love lunch. The food they serve at school is so delicious. Today we had hamburgers, french fries on the side, a cookie, and some apples. Yay for apples!

Now although lunch is awesome, the lunch room is a whole other story.

Have I ever described the cafeteria? Well, if I have, I'm gonna describe it again, just because I'm bored and have nothing better to do.

Our cafeteria looks basically like any other cafeteria. Though the wall on the side of the room where the cheerleaders and jocks sit are covered with pictures of past basketball teams, soccer teams, baseball teams, cheerleaders... eh, you get the picture. (Hehe, see what I just did there? I'm talking about pictures, and I just... oh, never mind.)

So I think I told you about the lunch seating arrangements. The table where me, Lucy, and a few of our other friends sit is the safe little haven amidst all the hubbub of the cafeteria. At our table, everyone's always calm and friendly, and we all get along and have no problem with each other. Unlike some other tables (cough cheerleader's table cough) where there's always at least one person planning your destruction behind your back.

Anyway, this table is where me, Lucy, Kurt Appleton from my history class, and Stacy Thomas from math class sit. Oh, and James Conroy recently joined us at our table. I dunno why. He's never had anything to do with us before. He usually hangs out with the popular crowd, but one day he just plopped down at our table and was all, "Hey, what's up?"

Not-so-long story short, he sits with us now.

Not that I'm complaining. He's cute.

So I was sitting next to Lucy, James was on my other side, and Kurt and Stacy were sitting on the opposite end of the table. I was asking Stacy about every geometry problem that I could remember from last night's homework, to see if I'd gotten most of it right. That's when James said my name, like he wanted to talk to me or something. I wasn't done asking Stacy about platonic bisectors or whatever it was I was asking her about, (I can't even remember the name. Geometry is so confusing.) so I reluctantly turned to James and asked, "Yeah, what is it?"

I thought James was gonna talk to me about schoolwork, or homework, or some kind of work. I didn't expect him to ask me out or anything.

Which was what he did.

He just kinda went like, "Do you wanna go out on Friday night?"

I blinked. "Excuse me?" I didn't think I'd heard right.

"Do you want to go watch a movie with me Friday night?" he said again.

I gaped at him. Everyone else at our table also stared at him.

Lucy elbowed me in the side. "He just asked you out on a date! Say yes!" she whispered in my ear.

I jumped a bit and closed my open mouth. Then I smiled and said, "Sure, that'd be cool!" I said. My voice came out sounding high pitched for some reason. It was a bit embarrassing, to tell you the truth. I cleared my throat. "Yeah, ok."

James grinned that bad boy smile that he had going on. "Cool."

"Cool," I repeated, feeling a bit dazed.

James then picked up his tray and left our table to go dump. Lucy immediately attacked me with words. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe he just asked you out! Have you two been having something going on that I never knew about? That was completely out of the blue! Wow! James Conroy asked you out! That's so awesome!"

I felt like celebrating with her. I mean, like I said, James is cute. I guess I _have _liked him for a while, but I never thought he'd be interested in me. WHOO!

"James Conroy asked Allison out?" said a voice from behind me.

I turned around to glare at Tawni (because she was the one who'd spoken). She was standing behind me, her hands on her hips and a disbelieving look on her face. Her cheerleader posse was nowhere nearby. That was a first.

"Why would a hot guy like him ask a horribly dressed dork like Allison?" she went on.

"I'm right here," I informed her dryly.

Tawni looked down at me, her nose crinkled, while I glared at her. Really, I was kinda getting sick of Tawni insulting me all the time. But then Tawni smiled. "Well, then, hope you enjoy your date with him while it lasts, Allison." She strutted off, chuckling.

I stared blankly after her. "What was that about?"

Lucy shrugged. "Who knows what goes on in that mind of hers? Hey, Kurt, are you gonna eat your cookie?"

So that was basically my day today. Nothing else very interesting happened. I did forget to finish my English essay on how my summer went, but my English teacher, Mrs. Cathy, was kind enough to give me some time to write it during the first ten minutes of class. She is so AWESOME. Definitely my favorite teacher.

Well, then we went over correlative conjunctions and participle phrases and such, and then Mrs. Cathy assigned us some pages to do in the textbook. I finished with time still left over, which is why I took the opportunity to write about my day in you.

Such an exciting day.

Not really.

At least I haven't had any bad luck so far, considering my socks are missing.

Hm. Now I have nothing to write about. Lalalala...

...

I HAVE A DATE WITH JAMES CONROYYYYY.

Heh. Just felt like writing that...

Ooh, finally, the bell rang! Only a few hours left of school, and then I can get out of here! Yesss!

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**3:15 P.M., at home in the kitchen**

I got home 10 minutes ago, and as I was walking down the sidewalk, I noticed something out of place. I wasn't sure what it was at first, but then I realized that there were two cars parked in the house next door to ours. You know, the house I mentioned before that was for sale? Yeah, there were two cars in that house's driveway, and some boxes on the doorstep.

Oh, yeah, and the "For Sale" sign had been taken down.

Which could only mean one thing.

Our old neighbors must have decided that they didn't like New Jersey and had returned back to Wisconsin!

Of course, they'd had only one car last time I'd seen them, and now there were two cars, one of which was an awesome looking convertible. Didn't know they were the type to buy a convertible.

I rushed inside the house, threw my booksack on the sofa, and yelled, "Mom?"

"Yes, honey?" she called from the kitchen.

I made my way into the kitchen and plopped onto a stool by the the dinner table. "Have Mr. and Mrs. Pearsley come back from New Jersey? 'Cause there are two cars over there and - "

Mom, who had had her back turned to me, came over and placed a medium sized cardboard box in front of me. "Nope, that's not the Pearsleys."

I'm pretty sure my face fell. "Aww. I was hoping it was them. I really liked them. They were always so friendly and - hey, is that cheese?" I peered inside the box that Mom had put on the table and grinned. "Ooh, that looks good!" I reached inside to pick up what looked like Wisconsin cheddar...

...and Mom swiped the box away from me.

I gave her an indignant stare. "What'd you do that for?"

"This isn't for you," Mom reprimanded me, setting the box down on the opposite side of the table. "It's welcoming cheese for our new neighbors."

Oh. So someone had bought the Pearsleys' house. That made sense, I guess. Getting up, I went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a box of cotton candy flavored ice cream. I'd suddenly gotten hungry after seeing that cheese. "Do you know who bought the house?" I asked as I opened the ice cream box.

Mom shook her head. "Nope. But we're going to go welcome them to Wisconsin in a bit, ok?"

I dug my spoon into the ice cream. "Okie dokie."

So that's basically what we'll be doing as soon as Mom finishes washing the dishes. Personally, I hope the new neighbors don't like cheese. That way I can have it all to myself.

Mom would probably make me share it with her, though.

And meanwhile, I just finished half a box of ice cream. Go me.

Eh. Mom just saw me writing in you and pointed out that I seem to be enjoying having a diary so far. I hate to admit it, but she's right. I do like writing in you. For some reason, I take joy in writing in you as though you're a real person. Huh. Maybe I should just bring you with me everywhere I go, that way I'll always have something to do.

Anyway, gotta go now. Time to greet the neighbors. I hope they're nice. And that they don't like cheese.

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**6:47 P.M., my bedroom**

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

...

OH MY GOSH.

I am in shock here. I'm completely and totally in shock.

Why? I'll tell you why.

I just met a celebrity. And not just any celebrity.

I just met Chad Dylan Cooper.

Chad Dylan Cooper.

...I'd be ok if the world ended right now.

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**And she finally met Chad. xD You'll find out the details of their meeting next chapter.**

**Review, please!**


	5. September 6th part 2

**Long time no see, guys. x3 I really stink for not updating my stories in so long. Anyway, hope you haven't forgotten this story and... enjoy!**

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**7:20 P.M., my bedroom (again)**

I just ate supper. Mom isn't the best cook, but she is pretty good! We had pork chop tonight. Yum.

But anyway. I will now give you the details on my first meeting with Chad Dylan Cooper. 'Cause that's what you wanna hear, right, Diary? You don't wanna know about pork chop...

That's what I'm guessing, anyway. You might get jealous, because I can eat delicious porkchop and you can't... because you're a diary...

Ok, I'm getting sidetracked. Right, here we go, for real, this time.

After Mom finished washing the dishes, she made me carry the box of cheese to the house next door, while she walked beside me without carrying anything. Kinda unfair, right? Honestly, I don't even know why she made _me _carry the box. If I'd had the chance, I would've eaten all that cheese immediately. But she kept an eye on me as we walked down the sidewalk, so I wouldn't have been able to either way.

We walked up to the doorstep and stood on the porch. We argued for a second on who should ring the doorbell. It was kind of a pointless argument, to be honest. Mom said that I should ring the doorbell because I'm younger. I said that she should ring the doorbell because she didn't have her hands full with a box of cheese. I won, because my argument made more sense. Hehe.

So she rang the doorbell. We waited for, like, a minute. Mom rang the doorbell again. I, meanwhile, got distracted and found myself staring at the nice convertible parked nearby. Man, if only I had enough money to afford something like that.

The door opened, and a voice said, "Yes, what do you - ?" The voice stopped for a second, and then went on delightedly, "Connie?"

I whipped my head around to stare at the person in the doorway. She was a very pretty lady, middle-aged, from the look of it, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked like the kind of woman you'd expect to see in a business suit or something, but she was dressed in a simple T-shirt, jeans, and flats. But that's not what caught my attention.

See, I'd never seen this woman before, and yet she knew my mother. Because Mom's first name is Connie. So how did she know this?

I glanced over at Mom. She looked just as delighted. "Sheila?" Then they both laughed and started saying stuff like, "Wow, I didn't think I'd see you so soon!" and "I can't believe you live here!".

Meanwhile, I felt totally confused, not to mention awkward. "Um," I started to say. "Am I missing something?"

Mom grinned. "Sonny, you remember how I told you that I met someone in Wal-Mart?" She gestured towards the blonde lady. "This is her!" She then said to the lady, "Sheila, this is my daughter, Allison."

The blonde lady smiled and extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, Allison. I'm Sheila Cooper." (Oh, God, a little lightbulb should have gone off in my head the second I heard the word Cooper)

I shook her hand, balancing the cheese box in my other hand. "Same to you, Mrs. Cooper. You can call me Sonny, though," I replied, smiling back. She seemed like a nice lady.

Shelia returned her gaze to my mom, looking both delighted and baffled. "So how'd you know that I lived here?"

"I didn't!" was my mom's reply. She pointed to our house. "We live right next door and saw that some new neighbors had moved in this house, so we thought we'd come over and give you a little 'welcome to Wisconsin' gift. I just didn't expect you to be the new neighbor!"

Sheila grinned. "It's a lovely suprise, isn't it? Well, come on inside. Sorry about the mess, by the way, we haven't unpacked everything yet."

Mom and I stepped inside the house. I blinked, slightly shocked. I'd been in this house a few times before to visit the couple who'd lived here previously. I'd always loved coming here, because they had these little knick knacks all over the house that were really cool to look at. And now everything was gone. The walls were completely bare, and pretty much the only thing I could see from the front door all the way to the staircase were rows and rows of unopened boxes. It was kind of sad, looking at the house that had once been filled with all those doodads and thingamabobs.

Anyway, my reminiscing is beside the point. I glanced around, taking in the emptiness of the house. "This is kind of weird," I remarked. Nobody heard my remark, of course, because my mom and Mrs. Cooper were busy chatting up a storm. I stood there for a bit, feeling awkward, until I heard soft footsteps coming from behind me. I turned to see a little girl with blonde hair and brown eyes staring at me with a frown on her face. "Who are you?" she asked bluntly.

"Oh, there you are, Claire," Mrs. Cooper said from across the room. "Claire, this is Sonny Munroe and her mother. They're our new neighbors. Connie, Sonny, this is my daughter, Claire."

I smiled down at the little girl over the cardboard box in my hands. "Hey, sweetie. How old are you?"

Her frown deepened. "I'm ten," she replied coolly. Dang, she looked liked she was eight or something. Whoops. Obviously she didn't appreciate being called 'sweetie'. I tried to fix my blunder by telling her cheerfully, "Well, I bet we're gonna be great friends!"

She rolled her eyes. "Not likely." She turned and stalked away. Sheesh. The kid was like a mini Tawni Hart. Wonder where she got her bad attitude from.

Mrs. Cooper frowned. "Claire, that's not the way to talk to our guests! Excuse me," she told us before walking after the mini Tawni clone. It wasn't too long before she came back. "I'm sorry about that," she said, giving me an apologetic look. "She hasn't been a very good mood since we arrived. Oh, why don't you put that box down, it looks heavy," she added, gesturing to the box I still had in my arms.

I barely had time to even bend down to set the box on the ground before Claire came running back in, tugging on someone's arm. "See, Chad, there she is, she's ugly, isn't she?"

Ok, that was totally uncalled for. I was about to give the kid a piece of my mind, but I happened to glance up at the person who Claire had dragged into the room and pretty much forgot about the mini Tawni.

BECAUSE IT WAS CHAD DYLAN COOPER.

CHAD DYLAN FREAKING COOPER.

I swear, I think my jaw dropped down all the way to the floor. Chad Dylan Cooper, in the flesh, standing right in front of me in all his gorgeous glory. I sucked in a deep breath and stared at him with wide eyes, not sure if he was real or a figment of my imagination. He had been looking at Claire up until then, but when I inhaled noisily he looked at me. Oh dear lord, his eyes were really blue. He smiled. "You don't look too ugly."

I think that's what he said. I can't really remember, because it was at that point that I dropped the heavy cardboard box. Right on my foot.

"OW!" I shrieked, pushed the box off my foot, frantically hobbled backwards, and somehow managed to fall on my butt. Way to make an impression on the celebrity, Sonny.

Both my mom and Mrs. Cooper moved to help me to my feet. I saw Claire snickering and felt a small surge of dislike for her, but it was overpowered by the awe I felt in the presence of Chad Dylan Cooper. I managed to stand up even though my foot was throbbing with pain and gawked at the Mackenzie Falls star, stammering, "You're-You're-"

"Chad Dylan Cooper?" he said, flashing me a smile with his perfect white teeth. I nearly fainted. I kinda managed a weak nod and continued to gape at him.

"Hey, aren't you that kid on that TV show Mackeller Falls?" my mom asked.

"Mackenzie Falls, ma'am," he corrected her. "And yeah, I am."

Mom looked impressed by his usage of the word 'ma'am'.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Cooper started to laugh. "Oh, I completely forgot to tell you. Well, you both obviously know him already, but this is my son, Chad. Chad, this is Sonny Munroe and her mother. They live next door." She turned to my mom. "Chad's shooting a movie in this area, so that's why we bought the house here. And he's going to be going to the local school while he's at it, so he can kind of experience the life of any other teenager." She smiled like the whole ordeal was a completely normal thing, which it definitely wasn't.

God, it'd been right in front of my face the whole time. Chad Dylan Cooper was going to my school, a Mrs. Cooper just happened to move next door... there's some more evidence, but the point is, it all fit! I should have known. I'm so stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Anyway, I spent the rest of the time glancing from my mom and Mrs. Cooper to the celebrity standing with his back to the wall, looking all gorgeous and whatnot. The mini Tawni stayed for a while to look at what was inside the box I'd brought ("Cheese? That's a crummy welcome gift," was her obnoxious comment). Well, it wasn't long before it was time to go back home. We said goodbye to Mrs. Cooper and started to leave. And then an amazing thing happened.

Chad Dylan Cooper waved to me and said, "Catch ya later, Sonny." Then he winked.

CHAD DYLAN COOPER SAID MY NAME. AND HE WINKED AT ME.

I think I told him 'bye', but I was feeling pretty dazed at the time so I don't know. I turned to walk out the door and BAM! I slammed right into the wall. I rubbed by nose, flushing with embarrassment, and practically ran out the door after my mom.

So yeah. I have a celebrity living next door. And I think that celebrity's going to be coming to school tomorrow.

...

This was the best. Day. EVER!

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**Review? **


	6. September 7th

**Hey, guys. Here's the next chapter! It's kind of a crappy chapter, because I didn't spend too much time on it, I just wanted to get it on here before I did anything else. And then it's a filler for the next chapter, which I promise will be a lot better. I haven't been feeling to good lately anyway, but I'm getting better, so my creative juices should flow better on the next chapter.**

**I still can't believe SWAC ended. D:**

**Anyway, enjoy. Again, sorry for how short and bad it is.**

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September 7th

_**Homeroom, 7:40 A.M.**_

_Dear Diary,_

I still can't get over the fact that Chad Dylan Cooper is living in the house right next to me. Seriously. Inception blew my mind, but this? Way more mind blowing.

I'm literally bursting with joy right now.

And I know it may not seem like I'm very joyful, as I haven't used any exclamation points at all. But I don't really feel like adding the extra little line above the period to form all those exclamation points to properly express my extreme happiness. I guess you could say I'm lazy. But don't worry, I'll get into the groove soon.

Anyway, I can't write much now, because Ms. Bitterman's gonna come in soon. But I'll fill you in ASAP, ok, Diary?

_**Lunch, 12 something P.M.**_

All right, it's filling in time.

When I got to school this morning, I was met with a wave of excited chatter. Apparently, word had got around that the one and only Chad Dylan Cooper was coming to the school today. Some girls had brought posters that said 'We love you, Chad!' or 'Mackenzie Falls 4ever!'. Stuff like that. I made my way through the crowd of people until I got to my locker, where Lucy was waiting for me. When she saw me, she let out a squeal and rushed over. "Sonny, Chad Dylan Cooper's coming to school today! Oh my gosh, this is so exciting! What do you think he'll be like?"

Now I know that Lucy is a very hyper person. We're both hyper people, which is probably why we get along so well. But I'd never, ever heard her talk about Chad Dylan Cooper in this way. You can probably imagine my shock.

"Since when do you like Chad Dylan Cooper?" I gasped. "I thought that you thought he was stupid!"

She suddenly looked embarassed. "I was actually referring to his show when I said that. It's kind of dumb. Entertaining, but dumb. Chad Dylan Cooper, on the other hand..." She sighed dreamily.

So Lucy was as infected with the Chad fad as everyone else was. This was news to me. "Luce, how come you never told me?"

She shrugged. "Well, I mean, I didn't want you to think I was like all those bubble headed cheerleaders. Besides, I thought you didn't like him, either."

I shook my head. "The complete opposite. But we can talk about that later. Guess what?"

She cut me off midway. "Do you think he'd go with me to the Back to School party if I asked him?" she asked, giving me a hopeful look.

Did I tell you about the Back to School party? Probably not. It's pretty self explanatory. I don't really know of any other schools that have a party that celebrates the return to school. Not surprising, if you think about it. But the annual, beginning of the year party was an idea our Student Council thought up ages ago. It's tradition for the girls to ask the guys to go to the party, instead of the other way around. The party's in three days, and I still haven't asked anyone. Ever since yesterday, though, I was thinking about asking Chad to go. But Lucy's my friend, so...

"I'm sure he would," I said. "He's a nice guy."

"How do you know if you've never met him?"

"Yeah... about that..."

That's when the screaming started. And then the running. Pretty much everyone in the hallway rushed toward the front doors, yelling and waving their arms and stuff. The stampede of students nearly flattened Lucy and me, but we got out of the way just in time. Lucy started hyperventilating and pointed at something over my shoulder. "Sonny - that's Ch-Ch- "

I had a hunch of what she was talking about even before I turned around. Sure enough, there he was, Chad Dylan Cooper in all his glory. He was smiling at all the screaming girls (and guys, in some cases) and signing autographs. His gorgeousness nearly made my heart stop for a second. No kidding. And then, of course, I was suddenly very conscious of how messy my ponytail probably looked.

Lucy grabbed my arm. "He's here! He's actually here!"

Then, to our complete disgust, Tawni Hart launched herself towards Chad Dylan Cooper and practically tackled him. Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but she was certainly all over him. I couldn't hear what she was saying over the noise, but even from a distance I could see the flirtatious look on her face. Urgh. That girl has no shame.

Finally, the principal, Mr. Winters, and a couple of other teachers came in and restored order somewhat. If you'd classify restoring order as attempting to shield the celebrity from the various screaming fans. Then Mr. Winters yelled into a megaphone, "Students! Settle down! Or no lunch!" That did the trick. Everyone immediately shut up. Mr. Winters continued calmly, "Mr. Cooper here is going to be a student here until his movie is done filming. During that time, you will treat him like any other student. I do not want to see or hear anything like this again. Is that clear?"

There was a general mutter that wasn't really a 'yes'. But it wasn't a 'no', either. I think. Then again, I don't really know. It's hard to tell with group rumbling.

Mr. Winters nodded. "Good. Now go to class! Mr. Cooper, I'll get someone to show you around." He smiled at Chad, who gave him a thumbs up, then turned and called, "Ms. Hart!"

Tawni bounded over to them. I didn't listen any longer after that, because if Tawni saw me eavesdropping she'd probably come over to me later and gloat about how she got to spend personal time with a celebrity.

Like getting to show Chad Dylan Cooper around the school was a big deal. I get to_ live _next to him. So HA!

Lucy frowned. "Tawni gets to have all the good stuff."

I shrugged. "Nothing we can do about that, I guess." I couldn't help glancing back at Chad, though. I wondered if he'd even noticed me. He'd said the day before that he'd 'catch me later', so if he had seen me, he would've come over and said hello. Right?

Well, he probably hadn't seen me. It's probably hard to pick one person out in a crowd of screaming fans.

"Come on, Luce, let's go to class. I've got something really cool to tell you," I said.

Over the course of our various classes, I told Lucy about everything that had happened yesterday, about how Chad was living next door, how my mom and I went to meet them, everything.

Well, except the part where I dropped the cheese box on my foot. And the part where I ran into the wall. Lucy didn't need to know anything about that.

She took it pretty well. By the time I was done, she was grinning from ear to ear. "Sonny, that's amazing! Gosh, you're so lucky."

I beamed. "Well, he's definitely much cuter in person," I giggled. "And he seems nice."

This just led us to talk some more about Chad Dylan Cooper, but I can't really remember much of our conversation. So I'm just going to skip ahead to now.

When we got into the lunch room, we sat in our usual table with our little group, with the exception of James, who apparently didn't come to school today. Guess who was sitting with the popular crowd? Yep, Chad Dylan Cooper.

I mean, I guess it was to be expected. He's popular, they're popular... but, you know. You'd think he could tell that they're all a bunch of jerks. Why would he want to hang out with them?

And Tawni's just kind of throwing herself at him. And she still has a boyfriend, too. She's unbelievable.

Oh, I think she just saw me staring at them, because she just smirked at me. She's so frustrating.

WAIT! WAIT! HE JUST SAW ME!

He just looked my way! He had to have seen me, who else could he have been looking at?

...huh. He didn't come say hello. Or even wave. He just turned around and started talking to Tawni again. And now she's laughing. I don't understand. Why didn't he say hi? Does he not remember me?

Well, maybe he's got other things on his mind.

Though I really want to know what he's talking to Tawni about. She's smirking at me again, and I don't really know why.

Lucy just asked me what I'm writing in you, so I think I'm going to have to put you away now. We can ponder over what just happened later. Who knows, maybe Chad Dylan Cooper will come talk with me later. Maybe. I hope.

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**Review please?**


	7. September 8th

**Yes, a quick update! Though it's a fairly short chapter. Sorry about that. But you'll forgive me on the next chapter. That's when the fun really begins. I can't wait. :D**

**Enjoy!**

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September 8

**7:00 A.M., home**

I'm sorry, Diary, I didn't have much time to talk to you yesterday. Classes kept me busy, and homework, and the search for my missing lucky socks. I hope you don't mind if it takes a while for me to write in you, but I'm sure you understand.

Speaking of classes, by the way, did you know Chad Dylan Cooper didn't have to go to any classes yesterday? Mr. Winters personally excused him from classes, so Tawni could show him around.

He's never done that for any of the new students before. He just leaves them to figure out everything by themselves.

So much for treating the celebrity like a normal student, Mr. Winters.

But I guess it's ok. After all, this _is _Chad Dylan Cooper we're talking about.

Or... writing about. I guess.

Whatever. That's beside the point.

So we didn't really get to talk because he was touring the school and everything. I mean, I saw him in the school parking lot, standing by that awesome convertible with a bunch of populars surrounding him. But I decided against going to talk to him then, because I didn't feel like associating with all those snobs he was chatting with. We don't really get along, you know. And besides, he didn't see me then, either. But I'm sure he'll see me later on. He should be in at least some of my classes. I hope. That would be cool.

Oh, who am I kidding? That would be EPIC!

All right, just finished my scrambled eggs and biscuit, so I'm going off to school now. Gosh, I miss wearing my lucky socks. It feels weird without them on. Well, I suppose I had to get used to not wearing them sometime. But still.

Oh, hey, look! A nickel!

$1.07, baby! Used car that looks new, here I come!

**8:43 A.M., Science**

He's not in this class with me.

**9:35 A.M., History**

Or this one.

**10:20 A.M., English**

OH MY GOD. THERE HE IS. RIGHT THERE.

He's in the desk right across from me. Well, not really, his desk is more to the right and diagonal, if you can figure that out... but yeah. He's there.

Ok, um, I'm supposed to be concentrating on the lesson, but I can still get him to notice me, right? Sure. Sure I can. I don't want to be too pushy though, so I'll just wait and see if he looks around and spots me. Then I can say 'Hi, remember me? I'm the girl who dropped a box of cheese on her foot.'

Oh, great. I'm going to sound like a complete loser.

**10:25 A.M., English**

He didn't see me yet. That's ok, though. We're only five minutes into classtime, and besides, he's busy doing our assignment.

Wait, what?

Oops. I wasn't paying attention, darn it. Now I don't know what our assignment is.

Well, maybe I can ask Chad later about it later. When I talk to him, I mean. If he'd just turn his head a bit to the left...

**10:35 A.M., still English**

Sigh. I'm bored. Where's Lucy when you need her? That's right. In Ms. Bitterman's class. Oh, woe is me.

Chad seems to be done with his work now. Look this way, Chad!

...

Man, how does he get his hair to look that good? Seriously.

**10:42 A.M., obviously still English**

Maybe I should throw something at him. Like a pencil. Or a piece of paper. Then he'd look around and see me!

Ooh, or maybe my textbook. That'd get his attention right there, I bet. Though he might not appreciate being hit in the head with an English book.

Not to mention he might get a concussion...

Oh, crap.

**12:15 P.M., in the hallway**

Mrs. Cathy caught me writing in you and confisticated you until lunchtime. Lunchtime came and went, so I have you back now. Though I have extra homework because I wasn't doing the assignment.

Well, I guess I deserve it.

I sure hope she didn't read you, Diary. That would be embarassing.

Oh, yeah, James was here today. He gave me flowers! Can you believe it?

Awwww. He's so sweet.

I feel kind of guilty now. You know, since I actually haven't thought about him once the whole day. Instead I've been thinking about Chad Dylan Cooper.

But it's not my fault! If you could just see him, he's all you'd be thinking about, too!

...Well, you know what? That's gonna end today. No, right now! I'm gonna talk to Chad and be done with this kinda/sorta/notreally-ish obsession over him!

Yes.

Now if I can just find out where...

Aha! There he is! And he's alone. Perfect.

All right, here I go. Wish me luck.

**12:19 P.M., behind the water fountain in the hallway**

Lucy beat me to it. She walked over to Chad from the opposite side of the hallway, and I saw the nervous look on her face. She hardly ever looks nervous. I figured she's going to ask him to go the start of school dance with her. Which is why I hid behind the water fountain, to give her some alone time with him.

No, I'm not eavesdropping. Shh, they're talking! I have to hear this!

...what?

**In my room and who the heck cares what time it is!**

I hate him! I hate that stupid three named jerk! I can't believe this! How could I have been fooled by such a snob?

I am not going to take this lying down!

**Later on**

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to throw you at the wall. I was just so angry. And I still am! Urgh. I'm such an idiot!

I know I said I'm not going to take this lying down, but I really need to lie down. All this being angry has worn me out. I'll tell you everything tomorrow.

Stupid drama snob.

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**Ooh. What happened? **

**Trust me, this'll get a lot better on the next chapter. **

**Anyway, please review! Reviews help me update faster. c: And thank you to everyone who's been reading so far!**


	8. September 9th

**Fanfiction, why can't we use the strikethrough thing? That's so annoying. -_- Oh, well. **

**Anyway, yay, new chapter! Enjoy this one. ;)**

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September 9th

**My room, 5:34 A.M.**

_Dear Diary..._

Ok, seriously, self. Why the heck did you wake up so early?

Really, I'm probably the only person awake in this whole neighborhood. And besides, who wakes up this early on a Friday? Not me, definitely. So why did I wake up?

I bet it was _his _fault. You know, Chad Dylan Cooper. He probably has some secret magic power that enables him to awaken people at early hours in the morning, just to annoy the heck out of them. I wouldn't put it past him. He's a jerk. He's like the mayor of Jerksville. Or the ambassador of Jerkoslavakia. I can't believe I used to like him.

Did I not make that clear yet? Yeah, he was the one I was writing about yesterday. I know, my opinion about him changed really quickly. But just hear me out and then you'll understand why he's such a SNOB.

I seriously hate him.

HATE. HIM.

I don't care how blue his eyes are.

Or how hot he is.

I can't believe I just wrote that.

Well, you know what? I just scratched it out. And because of the supreme power of the scratch out, it's as though it was never written. Technically. So HA!

Hmm... I guess it's a good thing I woke up early, so I have time to write in you before school starts.

Ok, here goes. Prepare yourself, this is kind of shocking.

So there I was, hiding behind the water fountain, as Lucy made her way over to that jerk, who didn't really notice her. I think he was busy looking at his reflection in a spoon. Or maybe it was a fork. I wasn't really paying attention to that tiny detail.

And I swear, I wasn't eavesdropping. I just wanted to hear what they were talking about, out of concern for my best friend's well being.

...Ok, fine, I was eavesdropping. But that's beside the point.

Lucy walked up to Chad and said, "Hi."

Chad ignored her. At first I thought he hadn't heard her, and I'm sure Lucy thought the same. But we know better now.

Lucy cleared her throat. "Um... Chad?" Still no answer. She poked his arm. "Chad?"

Chad suddenly whipped around to face her, saying angrily, "Ok, what is your problem? Chad Dylan Cooper does not like to be poked." Seriously, he refers to himself in third person?

"Sorry, I was just..." Lucy started to say, but Chad held up a hand to stop her. "I know, you want an autograph, but I'm kind of busy right now. Ask me tomorrow."

Lucy looked away. "No, I just... well, um, my name's Lucy, and I was wondering if you'd like to go to the back to school dance with me, maybe." She looked back at him, her expression all hopeful.

He could've gently turned her down. He could've said, "I'm sorry, I can't, but thanks for offering anyway." Something like that. But he didn't do that.

He stared at her, and then he started to laugh. Yeah, he was laughing at her in her face. _Laughing. _Lucy just stood there, looking taken aback. She was probably wondering what she said that was so funny.

Well, what Chad Dylan Cooper said next was definitely not funny.

He waved his hand dismissively and smirked. "Please, like I'd go to a dance with _you_. No offense, Lulu, but I can't be seen with a nobody like you. Do realize how much that would ruin my reputation?" He laughed again. "I'm sure there's a geek who'd love to go with you. Now excuse me, but I have better things to do than stand around here and chat with you."

Lucy's expression killed me. I'm serious. She looked stunned, crushed. I was just as shocked as she was. He was supposed to be nice. He had been nice when I'd met him. Hadn't he?

Yeah, but I remembered something then. There were these little things he'd done when I'd gone to his house before, little things I hadn't really noticed too much or cared about at the time. Like when I dropped the box of cheese on my foot, he smirked at me, and at that moment he looked exactly like Tawni did when she was about to go spread some nasty rumor concerning me. And how when he smiled at me before I left, his smile didn't meet his gorgeous eyes. (I'm scratching out that 'gorgeous' word later)

That's when I knew I'd been completely wrong about him. He isn't nice. He's Hollywood's badboy, just like the magazines say he is.

I've said this before, but I'm such an idiot.

Chad waved at Lucy. "Seriously, go. Leave. Isn't there a class you have to get to?"

Lucy nodded, still looking stunned, and mumbled, "Um... yeah." Then she turned around and walked slowly away. Poor Luce.

And Chad returned to looking at his reflection in a spoon.

Wow. So that was the thing he had to do that was better than chatting with Lucy, as he put it.

My shock had faded away by now, to be replaced by disbelief. And, of course, anger. Which is why I leapt out from behind my hiding place behind the water fountain and stormed over to where Chad was admiring himself. "What's the matter with you?" I fumed.

Chad looked up and smiled. Funny how a few days ago I thought that smile was charming. But after seeing the way he'd treated Lucy, I wasn't charmed one bit. "Oh, I know you. Sunday, right?"

"My name's Sonny," I said through gritted teeth. "Who do you think you are that you can talk to someone like that? You know, just because you're a celebrity doesn't mean you can treat someone like that. There's a way to talk to a person, and that's not it."

Chad's smile had quickly disappeared, and now he just looked annoyed. Good. "Look, Sunshine - "

"It's Sonny."

"Same thing. In answer to your question, I'm Chad Dylan Cooper. I follow my own set of rules."

"Your own set of rules?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Oh my gosh. You really are a jerk."

"Ooh, that hurts so bad." He rubbed his shoulder in mock pain, and I glared at him. "You know, Chad, that was my best friend you just insulted. My _best friend_. She wasn't doing anything to you, she was just asking a question, and you... you hurt her." I remembered Lucy's expression, and my voice cracked on the word 'hurt'. "She's not one of your personal assistants that get paid to let you boss them around. She's a human being. And I - "

"Yeah, and all I'm hearing from this little speech is blah, blah, blah," Chad said, pantomiming the whole 'blah,blah,blah' thing with one hand. "I really don't care, Suntan."

"Sonny!"

"Who cares?"

"I do!"

We glared at each other. I was seriously ticked off, to say the least. Really, I had to ball up my fists to keep myself from punching him in his stupid face. Finally, I said with all the vehemence I could muster, "Well, Chad Dylan Cooper, you and Tawni really deserve each other." I met his blue gaze for a moment, then turned, brushed past him, and walked off before he could say another word.

And that is how I found out that my celebrity crush is nothing but a big fat snob who takes joy in ruining people's lives.

You know how I was thinking about asking him to that dance? Yeah, that's definitely not going to happen.

Anyway, as I strode away from the pretty much empty hallway (seriously, how was there no one else there in the hallway the whole time we were arguing? You'd think someone from the school newspaper would've been nearby, at least), I looked for Lucy. No way had she gone to class. I managed to avoid a teacher that was roaming the halls in search of class skippers like me, then headed into the girl's bathroom. I poked my head inside. "Hello? Luce? Are you in here?"

"No," came a choked sounding voice from one of the stalls.

I sighed and made my way to the said stall. "Lucy, are you ok? I was, um, passing by and I saw what happened," I said softly.

I didn't get an answer at first. Then the stall door opened to reveal my best friend, holding a toilet paper roll with tear marks streaked down her cheeks.

I think that shocked me more than the 'Chad Dylan Cooper is actually a real jerk' thing. Because Lucy never cries. I've never seen her cry in all the years I've known her. I dunno, I always kind of thought it was impossible for Lucy to ever cry over anything.

He must've really struck a nerve when he told her all those things.

He made my best friend cry. I hate that guy so freaking much.

"Sonny, he told me I was a nobody," she whispered. "Stuff like that doesn't usually bother me, but..." She trailed off, and more tears welled up in her eyes.

I understood her unsaid words. Stuff like that didn't usually bother her from most people, but this was Chad Dylan Cooper who'd rejected her in one of the most humiliating ways possible. A celebrity that she'd apparently admired for a while without my knowledge. That's a completely different story.

I stepped forward and hugged her. "Lucy, it's fine. Trust me, there are much better people you can go to the dance with." I gave her an encouraging smile, and she sniffled and looked up at me. "But, Sonny - "

"Look, Luce, if Chad doesn't want to go with you, then big whoop. You know what? It's his loss, not yours. You wanna know why?" She shook her head, but I told her anyway, because I was determined to make her feel better. "Because you are one of the most amazing people I know. You're funny and beautiful and smart. Not to mention you can actually make an A on one of Bitterman's geometry tests."

She laughed at that. "You sure about that, Sonny?"

"Yes." I beamed at her. "Luce, you're like my sister. I know you. And I also know that any guy would be lucky to have you. Chad is just a snob who doesn't know what he's missing. So don't cry over _him_."

Lucy wiped her face with her sleeve, then smiled, "Ah, who needs Chad Dylan Cooper anyway?"

"There's the Lucy I know and love!" I said, grinning. We hugged again (yay for BFF moments!), then we linked arms. "You know what, Sonny?" she asked.

"What?"

She grinned before saying, "You are awesome." She said it in this funny voice that made me laugh. I replied back in the same voice, "You are awesomer!"

Hah, we say that all the time to each other. It's kind of an inside joke.

So, with that said, we skipped off to class. And got detention for being late.

Ah, well. C'est la vie.

So now you know. He's such a jerkface. I really didn't think it was possible for anyone to be that big of a jerk.

Well, I guess now I know why Chad's sister was so mean. Influenced by her big brother, no doubt.

Like I said. Who needs Chad Dylan Cooper?

Too bad he's my neighbor now. That sucks. I hope I don't randomly bump into him outside.

Hey, wait! There's one bit of good news! Tonight's my date with James, isn't it?

Oh my gosh, I can't wait! At least he's not a huge jerk, unlike that dumb celebrity.

I think I heard Mom get up. I guess it's time to go eat breakfast now. Talk to ya later, Diary!

Chad Dylan Cooper better not talk to me again today, or he's so gonna get it.

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**Review please? Pretty please with cherries on top? More reviews means faster updates... :)**


	9. September 9th part 2

**Yay, another chapter. c: I've already planned out a bunch of stuff for Sonny's upcoming diary entries that I think you're really gonna like. Well, anyway, enjoy!**

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**The living room, 4 P.M.**

I forgot you at home. Sorry.

Why the heck am I even apologizing? You're a diary! You don't care!

Why can't I be like a normal person and just write down my thoughts in the normal way? You know what I mean. Usually when people write in diaries or journals or whatever, they don't write as though the diary has feelings. And I'm almost positive they don't write as though everything's some big story. Right?

Right.

So I need to stop doing that. Starting now.

...Oh, but there wouldn't be any fun in that! It'd be so boring! This way is more entertaining, and even though it takes up a ton of time, I like it. So there.

Never mind. I'm wasting page space.

Ok. Um, let's see, about my day today... where should I begin? Let's start with the bad news first, shall we?

So my first class today was science. Lucy's in that class with me too. Yay! But guess who else is in that class with us? Tawni. Not so yay.

Lucy and I walked in together, and the first thing we saw was Tawni, sitting on her desk across the room and laughing in our general direction. Then she said loudly to her cheerleader posse, "Oh, look, there's the rejects. Did you hear that one of them asked Chad Dylan Cooper to the dance? What a loser." Her fellow cheerleaders giggled, and she smirked at us.

Lucy made a noise that sounded like a growl. "How did _she_ find out about that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously someone told her. Three guesses who."

"Ooh, let me think," Lucy said, squinting her eyes and pretending to look deep in thought. "Is he blonde, blue eyed, and self centered?"

"Bingo." We both laughed loudly, then I grinned over at Tawni, who just narrowed her eyes at me, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and turned away. Lucy and I silently high fived each other, then took our seats near the back of the classroom.

Ms. Germaine, our science teacher, walked into the room and smiled at all of us. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Ms. Germaine," was the sullen reply. Mainly because although Ms. Germaine is nice, she's a really boring teacher. And she's also kind of insane. I suspect she might be just a tiny bit bipolar. I still like her as a person, though. As a teacher? Eh. Not so much.

"Now, I have some great news for you kids," Ms. Germaine said happily.

Lucy rolled her eyes at me. "Great news for the Ger-Maniac is bad news for us," she whispered.

I giggled and mouthed at her to shut up. Didn't want Ms. Germaine to catch us. She might have had one of her mood swings and freaked out at us. It's happened before.

"In a month and a half we will have the science fair," our teacher went on. "And because I'm so nice, I'm going to assign you your partners ahead of time. I suggest you take advantage of this and start on your project early on, so you don't have to worry about it." She smiled.

"Told you," Lucy mouthed to me.

I had to agree with her. I mean, it's good that she's giving us the assignment early, but still... a month and a half is really, really early. But I guess I shouldn't complain. Not about the earliness, anyway.

Ms. Germaine picked up a notepad off the table and said, "All right, here are your assigned partners."

I grinned at Lucy. Ms. Germaine knew that we were best of buds, so she had to put us together.

That's what I thought, anyway.

She started called out the names. "Brandon Smith and Doug Brochu. Cynthia Finkle and Jake Thomas. Lucy Cher and Maya Stoma."

I cast a disappointed look over at Lucy, whose expression pretty much mirrored mine. Well, at least she was with one of the smarticle people.

I kinda zoned out as Ms. Germaine read the list, but then she called out two names that immediately made me come back to reality.

"Sonny Munroe and Tawni Hart."

No.

No no no no NO WAY.

I turned my head to stare at Tawni, who was staring right back at me in horror. For once, I think we actually agreed on something: That Ms. Germaine really was a lunatic.

At the end of class, Tawni and I rushed up to the table at the same time. "This has to be a mistake!" Tawni gasped, her eyes widening dramatically as she spoke. "I can't be partnered with _Allison!_" She gave me a glare. "If I'm seen hanging around her and her horrible outfits, I'll totally be laughed at!"

Gee, thanks Tawni.

"And I can't be partnered with her!" I added in. "We hate each other! Ms. Germaine, it wouldn't work out. Can't you assign us different partners? Please?"

Ms. Germaine had been listening quietly to us the whole time, but finally she said, "I'm sorry, girls, but once you've been assigned to someone, I can't change that."

"Sure you can, you're a teacher!" Tawni said in exasperation. I nodded.

Our teacher, who'd been completely happy a second before, suddenly looked very intimidating. "Both of you, please leave my classroom now before I give you detention."

I did not need another detention, so I rushed out of there. Tawni followed a few seconds later, looking ticked off. "This doesn't change anything, you know," she hissed at me. "I'm not working with you on a stupid project."

"Um, you kind of have to," I pointed out in resignation. I'd already accepted the fact that I had to work with the self-appointed queen of the school.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and didn't reply. Ha. I'd managed to shut her up for once.

"Look," I said slowly. "I have no desire to do anything with you either, but since we have no choice, then we're just gonna have to bear it and grin, ok?"

She rolled her eyes and said something that I'm not gonna write down. Much too innapropriate for you, my dear diary.

I frowned at her. "Whatever. So we should probably meet on Sunday somewhere to start brainstorming ideas for this project. Your house or mine?"

"Sunday? Can't we just wait until a month from now?"

"The sooner we get it done, the sooner we don't have to associate with each other," I pointed out. Tawni made a grunting noise, which I took as an agreement. "So your house or mine?" I asked again.

"Yours," Tawni said without hesitation. "If you come to my house, you'll just get your horrendous Wisconsinite germs all over."

What? What the heck does that even mean? "But if you come to my house, wouldn't you just catch my... germs?" I countered back.

"It's less worse," she retorted.

I shook my head. Really, I'll never understand her. "Ok, fine. So my house, Sunday at... what time?"

"Two o'clock in the afternoon," she said as she turned her attention to her fingernails. "I have a manicure at one o'clock, so - "

"I really don't care, Tawni."

"All right, then, Allison." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Well, until Sunday, I suggest we not talk to each other."

"Agreed," I said. Then we turned and walked away from each other.

So on the bright side, Tawni's not going to talk to me until Sunday. That's the only bright side, though... Lucy was really sympathetic when I met up with her later on, but at the same time she was also happy about her own brainiac partner. I can understand that, but, you know... I was kind of upset here.

Another bright side of the day: Chad Dylan Cooper didn't talk to me, either. Well, actually he did. I passed by him in the hallway, and he kind of glared at me and said, "You dropped your pencil."

And I said coolly, "Thanks." I picked it up, then glared at him, too.

And he said, "You're welcome." More glaring.

We kind of had a glaring staredown for about five seconds (one of his eyes is more sparkly than the other. I never noticed that until then) before a bunch of girls started pointing at us and giggling. My guess is that they were telling rach other, "OMG Chad Dylan Cooper is so hooottttt!"

And he's so not.

I don't care what I said four pages ago. He isn't. Well, not as hot as he _thinks _he is, anyway.

Oh, but I have more bad news. I didn't really tell you this yet (I was more concerned about the working with Tawni thing), but I told Mom this morning that I got detention, and she pretty much flipped out on me. I mean, she wasn't yelling or anything, but man, she was upset.

As punishment, she forbade me from going out with James tonight.

WHY MOM? WHY?

Anyway, I had to break the bad news to James in the cafeteria today. Surprisingly, he actually took it very well. "Ah, it's cool," he told me. "I actually have plans for tonight."

I blinked. "Plans?"

"Yeah, my dad got us some last minute tickets to a soccer game," he said, giving me a smile. Let me tell ya, I almost melted into a puddle.

Anyway, so I guess it's all good. But I was really looking forward to our date, to take my mind off things... oh, well.

More bad news: I still can't find my socks. Where are they?

Oh, well. I'm gonna go eat some ice cream out on the porch. See ya.

**4:43 P.M., back in the living room**

Chad's little sister just threw a pinecone at me.

A PINECONE.

What the hell?

Really, I was just sitting there on the porch, eating ice cream, when all of a sudden she passed by my house on this pink bike. And the she stopped the bike in front of our house, and suddenly this pinecone came hurtling toward me. It barely missed me, but it fell in my bowl of ice cream. Gosh, that kid has a strong throw. And then as I was staring at the pinecone, all shocked, I looked up at her, and she smirked at me and called, "That's what you get for dissing my big brother!" Then she rode off.

Urgghhh. I love kids. But I think that little girl might just be an exception.

**6:00 P.M., my bedroom**

Oh my gosh. I've just figured something out.

This is all your fault!

All this bad luck I've been getting started when I bought you! First my lucky socks go missing, then that stupid Cooper moves next door to us. I would've been perfectly happy living the rest of my life just assuming he was a nice guy, but _nooooo_. And now Tawni Hart is my partner for a science project. Oh, and then that pinecone thing. Not to mention I have detention and can't go on my date with James.

I can't believe this. It was all you!

I trusted you, diary. I trusted you with all my secret thoughts, and this is how you repay me?

I'm throwing you away right now.

**6:15 P.M.**

I mean it. I'm about to trash you. Right now.

**6:20 P.M.**

So long, farewell!

**6:22 P.M.**

Hasta la vista, baby!

**6:40 P.M.**

...I can't do it. I just... can't. I can't throw you away. I think I've become too attached. Not to mention I really don't want the four dollars I spent on you to go down the trash with you.

Darn you, diary. Darn you to heck.

Well, I sure hope things get better soon. Otherwise I think I really may have to throw you away, no matter how much I don't want to. I really don't need more bad luck, ok?

Just in case, though... I probably shouldn't write in you as often as I do. So don't be surprised if it takes me a few days to write in you. That's what you deserve.

All right, I don't feel like writing any more. I think I'm gonna go bond with my mother instead of wasting my time on you. Goodbye.

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**Now who saw that coming? :D Review please! I'm aiming for at least seven reviews this time. ^^**


	10. September 10th

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! :3 I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I do. I had a lot of fun writing it. ^^ **

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September 10th

**My room, 10:00 A.M.**

_Diary (you don't deserve the word 'dear'),_

I love my mom. I really do.

But she's really aggravating me right now! Argghhh!

I told her about the jerkthrob next door. I told her how I absolutely hate his guts, and what he did to Lucy. She nodded and said, "Oh, yeah, honey, that's terrible."

And then you know what she does to me an hour later? She tells me that we're going to help out the Coopers!

The COOPERS!

What does she not understand about the words 'I hate Chad Dylan Cooper'?

Stupid diary. This is all your fault.

So we're going to head off to their house now. Great way to spend my Saturday, huh? Not.

**Back in my room, 8:30 P.M.**

Well, that was... interesting.

Mom and I got back from the Coopers a couple of hours ago, and I'm still not sure what I'm feeling right now. I think it's a combination of annoyance, anger, interest, slightly but not really guilty-ish, and just blah from being so tired.

I guess I should tell you about what happened, huh? Ok, fine. It'll take a while, though, so quit it with your whole bad luck vibe for a minute (or 30) and just be a good, normal little diary.

So Mom and I walked over to the house next door, and she rang the doorbell. Meanwhile, I paced on the porch and said for about the 18973808424635245369th time, "Mom, can I please go home now?"

"No," was her answer.

"But, Mom - !" I started to whine.

"Sonny, whatever problems you have with that boy, you're going to have to put them aside for now," my mom said in a stern voice. "I promised Sheila that we'd come today. And you know I don't break my promises."

I sighed. "I don't either, Mom. But..." Here I put on my most winning smile and nudged her with my elbow. "...I'm pretty sure I'd just ruin your time with your new best friend. Don't you agree? You do agree, don't you?"

She stared at me. "Sonny."

My smile evaporated. "Ok, fine, I'll be quiet."

"Thank you," she told me. "And if it makes you feel any better, I'll give you anything you want for doing this for me. As long as it isn't expensive."

I brightened up. "How about an allowance?"

She frowned. "Well, um... we'll see, ok?"

Trust my mom to be clingy to her money. Psh. But I nodded anyway.

A short time later, the door opened. Claire Cooper looked up at us. "Hello. Please come in," she said oh-so sweetly, with that 'I'm such a little angel' smile on her face. My mom smiled at her and entered the house. I walked after her, and Claire stuck out her foot in front of me. Naturally, I fell on my face. And it hurt, too. I looked up from the wooden floor to see Claire giving me a wide eyed, apologetic look that was obviously fake. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize my foot was there." Then she smirked and skipped away.

She has the same exact smirk as her brother. Gah.

I lowered my head back down on the floor and mumbled, "God, if you're watching right now, I really hope you're enjoying my pain."

"Need a little help?" someone said from up above. At first I thought it was God replying to me. But then I realized that I'd heard that voice before. I looked up and there he was. Chad Dylan Cooper, in all his jerkly glory, smirking down at me.

Definitely not God.

"I'm fine, thanks," I responded with all the dignity I could muster, which was hard considering I was still splayed out across the floor.

"Sure you are," he scoffed. "Come on, let me help you up." He held out his hand, and I stared at it. I was going to say "No way in hell", but then I got an idea. "Fine," I said nonchalantly, then took his hand lightly in mine. He smirked at me again. "Now was that so hard?"

"Yes. But this won't be," I said with a smile on my face. Then I gripped his hand harder, pulled him down onto the floor, and hopped up. "Ha! Peace out, sucka!" I said triumphantly, imitating his signature line that I always hear him say on TV.

He stared up at me, looking shocked. He got to his feet and rubbed his shoulder. "Huh. Well played. I guess I have to give you props."

I smiled at him smugly. "Props accepted."

"I still don't like you, though," he added.

"The feeling's mutual, Chad," I said, rolling my eyes. I actually think that was the first time I simply called him 'Chad' instead of addressing him by his full name or his last name.

"You two seem to be getting along well," came Mom's voice from the left. She walked into the main hallway, accompanied by Mrs. Cooper. Chad chuckled at Mom's completely untrue observation, while I just folded my arms and glared resolutely at the wall. "Or not," I heard Mom mutter to Mrs. Cooper.

Mrs. Cooper smiled, then said kindly, "Hi, Sonny. Don't mind Chad here, he's really a big sweetheart." Yeah, right. She was so just saying that because she's his mom.

"When it comes to pretty girls, though, he hasn't got a clue how to behave," she went on, laughing. My jaw kind of dropped slightly. "Excuse me?" Beside me, Chad hissed, "Mother!" I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, and he actually looked embarassed. Wow.

Mrs. Cooper grinned. "Awh." She nudged my mom. "How cute are they? Why don't you two go upstairs and bond while we clean up down here?"

"Wha- huh?" was my smart answer.

"_Mother!_" Chad repeated, now looking annoyed.

My mom raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Of course, Connie," Mrs. Cooper said happily, waving a feather duster. "Teenagers like to talk, not work."

I stared hard at Mom, trying to tell her through mindspeak to fight for me, to get me out of this. She glanced at me, then shrugged at Mrs. Cooper. "If you say so. Have fun, kids." She looked back over at me, but I turned my head the other way so she couldn't see my expression. So much for helping me out, Mom.

"Well, go ahead, don't let us stop you," Mrs. Cooper said cheerfully.

"Follow me," Chad grumbled, not looking happy at all. He made his way up the stairs, and I reluctantly trailed after him.

We met Claire halfway down the upstairs hallway. Her face lit up when she saw Chad. "Hi, Chaddy! Guess what, I tripped that girl who dissed you just awhile ago. You should have seen her face plant on the floor, it was hilarious!" She giggled. She actually had a sweet little giggle that would've made me smile under normal circumstances. You know, if she hadn't been EVIL.

Chad grinned and ruffled Claire's hair (ooh, that rhymes!). "Nice going, Claire."

I folded my arms across my chest. "Can I go now?"

Claire peered around Chad and frowned. "Oh. You're here."

I ignored her. If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all.

Chad sighed and turned to me. "Look, I don't want to bond with you," he said, making quotation marks in the air at the word 'bond'. "And I doubt you want to bond with me, either. But we've got no choice, so let's just get this over with."

"No choice? What're you talking about?" I scoffed. "Why don't we just ignore each other completely? Your mom will never know the difference."

"Oh, she has ways," he said darkly. That probably should've weirded me out a bit, but after all I've been through in the last week, I didn't really care. "Now come on. The sooner we're done bonding, the better." He opened the door he was standing next to and gestured with his hand. "Go on in."

I glared at him before stepping into the room. Chad turned to face his little sister and said, "Claire, why don't you go watch some Mack Falls?"

The little kid raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure I shouldn't stay here? She might try something on you," she said dubiously, nodding her head at me.

"I can take care of myself," he said, smirking. She smirked right back at him, then gave him a quick hug and left, closing the door behind her.

Ok, so that was sweet.

But they're both still evil. EVIL I TELL YOU.

Chad turned around and raised his hands. "So. This is my room."

I glanced around, staring at all the posters plastered over the walls. Guess who was on every single poster? Yeah, Chad. "Wow. I never would've guessed," I said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Haha." He sat down on his bed, which had a Mackenzie Falls blanket (figures) and patted the area beside him. "Have a seat, Sunshine."

"How many times do we have to go over this?" I said through gritted teeth. "My name is Sonny. Say it with me._ Son_. _Ny_."

"Don't tell me what to do," he said, frowning.

"Well, don't tell _me _what to do!"

"Fine, I won't!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"What the hell are we doing?" Chad asked.

I had to think about that for a second, but came up with nothing. So instead I shrugged. "I dunno."

He shook his head. "So you wanna sit down?"

About four days ago, the idea of sitting down next to CDC would've made me pass out. Now it just made me want to barf. "No, thanks, I'll stand."

He shrugged at me and sprawled out across his bed, propping up his head in his hands. "All right, then. Bonding time. Whoo," he said without any enthusiasm.

"Yay," I said in the same tone of voice.

There was awkward silence for about 5 seconds. Then I finally said in a fake bright voice, "Ok, how about I start. Let's see... oh, how about this?" I abruptly changed my tone. "Why the heck are you such a jerk!" I glared daggers at him.

Chad made a 'tsk' noise. "I choose to skip that question."

"I'm serious, Chad." I dropped the angry face and stared at him, trying not to sound depressed. Because even though I'm really ticked off with him, I'm still disappointed that he isn't the guy I thought he was. I mean, that really stinks. "Why did you tell off my best friend like that? You may be a celebrity, but you can't talk to people like that. So why?"

"Let's change the subject," Chad cut in.

"I'm not done, Cooper," I said sharply. "Really, I know you aren't that big of a jerk, from the way you act with your little sister. But you - "

"So I'm not a jerk? You're sending me mixed messages here, Sonny." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Oh, you're still a huge jerk. Not as huge as I thought you were, but still a jerk."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Oh, and you remembered my name!" I smiled sweetly at him. "Now was that so hard?"

He stared at me with a weird expression on his face, which got me feeling all awkward again. It was like he was... studying me or something. Like I was some kind of animal in a zoo. Or a science experiment.

I don't know.

Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd say he'd been checking me out. But that would be insane.

"So are you going to tell me why you acted like such a snob?" I demanded.

"Hmm, let me think? Still no." I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand. "Look, Sonny, could you just drop it? I really just don't want to talk about it."

Something about how he said that made me quit asking about it, even though I really just wanted to keep questioning him. Stupid celebrity star power that makes you do what you don't want to do.

"All right, my turn. I'll start with something simple," Chad said. "What's your favorite color?"

"Rainbow. My turn!"

"Rainbow isn't a color, it's, like, seven colors."

"That are combined to make one thing."

"But it's still seven colors."

"Yeah, but it's technically - "

"Seven colors."

"God, fine!" I said, annoyed. "I like yellow, ok? Sheesh."

"Hmph. Well, I like blue." Chad smirked. "It's the same color as my amazing eyes."

His eyes really are very nice, from a far away distance. But I wasn't going to tell him that. "Yeah, that's great. As much as I'd love to hear you talk about your amazing eyes, I think it's my turn again." He glared at me, which made me grin. Then I thought about my question. "So how'd you become a celebrity, Chad?"

"What, you don't know?" Chad looked over at me, obviously surprised, and I shrugged. "Uh... no? I hate you, so I never really bothered to find out."

"You didn't hate me when we met."

"Just answer the question."

"Ok." He sat up on the bed and closed his eyes solemnly. "The day Chad Dylan Cooper became a shining star in the world of Hollywood was the day that the lives of everyone on Earth changed forever," he said in a dramatic voice.

I facepalmed. "Chad. Like a normal person, please."

He childishly stuck his tongue out at me. Really? "Fine. I got my big break when I was seven, on the Goody Gang, the most popular kid's show of its day."

That was a name I actually recognized, and my eyes widened. "Hey, I think I used to watch that show! But you weren't on there."

"Actually, I was. My name was Chad Dylan Goldfarb, though."

I tried to puff up my cheeks to keep from laughing, but the laughter just sort of spilled out. "Goldfarb? Seriously?" I said while cracking up.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Trust someone like you to find that funny."

I wiped a tear away from my eye. "Wow. Ok. So if you were a Goldfarb, then how'd you become a Cooper? Did your mom get divorced?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I was born out of wedlock. My mom was a Goldfarb then, so I just kept her last name for a while. But then my dad got her pregnant again when I was starring on the Goody Gang, so they decided to just quit holding it off and just get married."

I blinked. "Um, well, why didn't they just get married before you were born?"

Chad shrugged. "I guess my dad liked being a single man. I don't blame him." He smirked again, and I rolled my eyes. Though, all the same, I couldn't help but giggle at how egotistical he was being. "Yeah, whatever, Chad."

"You sure you aren't getting tired standing?"

I sighed and plopped down on the bed beside him. "Are you happy now?"

"Yep." He grinned at me. I just tried to avoid eye contact. Because if I'd looked at his eyes, his celebrity power might've led me to do something crazy. You never know.

"So tell me about yourself, Sonny."

"Why?"

"We're supposed to be bonding."

"Right. What do you want to know?"

"I dunno."

"That's really specific. Well..." I thought for a second. "My real name's Allison Munroe, but no one ever calls me that except Tawni."

"The blond chick?" Chad smirked. "She's hot."

I shuddered. "Ew. Well, anyway, we're enemies. She moved here from California a few years ago and decided to terrorize me ever since." My bangs fell into my eyes as I talked, and I blew them away. "Anyway, I'm 16, I like animated Disney movies and comedy shows - "

Now it was Chad's turn to shudder. "Ugh, comedy."

I ignored him. "My favorite actress is Selena Gomez and my favorite actor is probably either Jackson Tyler or Zac Efron - " Chad gasped loudly. I nearly jumped off the freaking bed, then stared at him. "What?"

"How could you like that doofus?" he said, looking genuinely shocked. "I'm a much better actor than he is!"

"You keep telling yourself that. My best friend is Lucy, I hate people with the initials CDC - "

"I'm so touched."

"Please stop interrupting me."

"Diva," he mumbled.

"What did you just call me?" I asked in a steely voice, glaring at him. He blinked at me, then smirked for about the 5th time that day. "A diva. What'cha gonna do about it, Munroe?"

"How about I show you?" I grabbed his Mackenzie Falls pillow off of his bed and promptly began hitting him with it.

"Ow! Hey, what the - OW!" he yelled.

"That's-for-being-a-jerk!" I said between gritted teeth as I smacked him with that pillow. Man, I smacked him good. BOO YAH!

He grabbed the other pillow on the bed and began hitting me, too. "That's for liking Efron!"

Anyway, long story short, that's how our mothers found us ten minutes later, pounding away at each other with pillows.

Yay.

But it sure felt good to hit him. It was like... immediate stress relief. I'm going to have to do that again sometime soon.

After that, we left. You know, once our moms were done awwhhing over us. Claire looked like she wanted to use me as a punching bag when my mom and I walked out of the house.

Hah!

As for Chad, well... I'm not really sure. I know people really well, but his expression was hard to read when I coldly said goodbye to him.

It was probably dislike or something. Not really sure.

So I still really hate Chad Dylan Cooper. Not as much as I did yesterday, but... I still hate him. So there.

Has it really been about an hour since I started writing in you? Good grief.

Well, I guess my Saturday wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I'll deny that I enjoyed myself if anyone asks.

Oh, and Tawni's coming over tomorrow. Joy...

Great, you're sending out those bad luck vibes again. Which is my signal that this little chat is over.

Peace out, sucka!

That's actually really amusing to say.

Seriously, though. Bye.

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**Ooh, a hint of Channy in this one. :3**

**Review, please! Virtual cookies to anyone who reviews. Also, I'm trying to see if I can get this story to reach 100 reviews by the 17th chapter. Probably not gonna happen, but I'm gonna try anyway.**

**Also, can anyone guess what events happened that made So Random never exist? I already have it all planned out as to what happened, but I'd like to hear your opinions. :)**

**Thanks for reading, guys! Ginger out. ;D**


	11. September 11th

**I'm sorry for the wait! Here's a new chapter for you guys. Mainly just another filler chapter. I'm sorry if it's boring, it seemed a lot better executed in my head. D: **

**I hope you guys enjoy it, anyway!**

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**My room, 5:00 P.M.**

The first thing Tawni said when she walked inside my house was, "My God, Allison, this place is even uglier than polyester pants."

Yeah. That's when I knew this whole get-together we'd arranged wasn't going to be fun. Good thing Mom went over to help out the Coopers again that day. She didn't have to suffer through what I did.

I silently rolled my eyes as I shut the door behind her. Tawni had arrived pretty much on schedule, if you count being thirty-two minutes late as on schedule. You should have seen her outfit. It was like Barbie had met Fashionita or something and they'd gone and robbed a dozen shopping malls. Like, she was wearing clothes you might see supermodels wearing. Fancy shirt, lots of accessories, a really short skirt, and, get this, stilettos. That's right. When I pointed out to her later that there was no need to get dressed up, she told me that those were her casual clothes.

Wow. That is all I can say to that.

So, anyway, I said, "It's great to see you, too, Tawni."

She scoffed and waved her hand at me. "Whatever. Look, let's just get this over with, ok? I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to - " She suddenly gasped. I, meanwhile, decided to just ignore her and walked away to go get a drink from the fridge. Behind me, I heard her gasp again, though this time it was much louder. I paused by the door to the kitchen. "Is there something you want?" I asked her, already a bit annoyed.

She pointed at the tiny ceramic statue of a kitten holding a clock that sits on our cabinet in the living room. "What is that?" She sounded horrified. I mentally facepalmed. "It's a kitten."

She didn't appear to have heard me. "Knick knacks? Who keeps knick knacks in their home?" She glared at me balefully. "You people are sick."

I took a deep breath. "Tawni," I said, struggling to keep my tone friendly. "I know that we're not friends. I get that. But we have to do a project. So if you can please just work with me, we can get done a heck of a lot faster, and then we can part ways. Sound good?"

She sat down on the couch and said nothing, which I took as a yes. I went into the kitchen and poured some apple juice into two cups, one for me and one for Tawni. Hey, just because I strongly dislike her doesn't mean I can't be courteous. My mom raised me well, you know.

When I got back into the living room, I found Tawni with a picture frame in her hands. I put the apple juice down on a table. "Um, what're you doing?"

Tawni glanced up at me. "Looking at a picture." She waved the picture in the air, and when I saw what it was I suddenly felt like I wanted to cry. Because that picture was of me when I was eight, from back when I was a Blossom Scout. Before I got kicked out. It's a really emotional story that I'm not going to tell, because, Diary, I just don't trust you at the moment. You might use that information against me to give me more bad luck.

"This is you?" Tawni went on.

I snatched the picture out of her hands and set it back where it belonged. "Yes."

"You were fat," she said bluntly.

I glared at her. "I was slightly chubby. Not fat. There's a big difference."

"Fat," she said, smiling sweetly at me.

I forced myself to smile back, even though I sort of wanted to strangle her. "Ok, moving on. Tawni, have you had any ideas for what we can do our project on?"

She laughed. "Are you kidding me? Allison, why would I do that when you can do it for me?" Without waiting for me to answer, she grabbed another picture off the table and held it up. "Who's this guy? Never seen him before."

We only have one picture of my dad in the house. It's of my dad holding me when I was just a baby, smiling hugely up at the camera. I wanted to throw that picture away, but Mom always insisted on keeping it. You'd never think that that guy in the picture, happily holding his baby girl, would be the kind of guy that would one day just get up and leave his family. Life is really cruel, huh?

Anyway, that was the picture Tawni was now looking at. I honestly don't know what was with her interest in all our family photos. "Put it back, Tawni."

She looked like she wanted to insult me, but I guess something in my expression made her decide against it. She put the picture back on the table, then looked up at me. "Think of the stupid topic so I can leave."

I rolled my eyes and handed her a cup of apple juice, downing some from my own cup before answering. "Fine. How about we do something on cheese?"

"Ugh, I hate cheese," Tawni said, wrinkling her nose. I laughed dryly. "And yet you live in Wisconsin. How ironic."

"Trust me, I never asked to move to this place," she said grumpily, giving me the evil eye. I shrugged in response. "What about photosynthesis?"

"Bored already."

"The properties of matter?"

"...what?"

"Never mind," I sighed. Then I brightened. "Hey, how about we focus our project on cows! There's a field nearby full of them, and we could study them and - "

Tawni let out a shriek halfway through my sentence, and pounded her fist on the couch pillow. "No! No cows! That's all you Wisconsin people talk about, cheese and cows! I don't want to see a cow, I don't want to hear a cow, I don't want to talk about a cow, and I don't want to do a project on _cows!_"

So, naturally, after she screams all this into my face, a loud _MOO! _came from somewhere in the room.

"OH MY GOD, ALLISON, I SAID I DON'T WANT ANY COWS!"

"I know, I know! Where is it?" I yelled, rifling through the sides of the couch.

"I don't know!" she yelled back at me. "How should I know where your cow is? Who even keeps a cow in their house? I knew you were a wacko!"

"We don't have a cow! It's my phone!" I followed the sound of the MOOing over to the cabinet and began to open drawers. I seriously need to stop leaving my cellphone in random places, because my mom usually sees it just sitting somewhere and puts it on some shelf, which causes me to take forever to find it when I need it.

"You have a cow in your phone? That's just sick!"

"No, it's my ringtone!" I finally found it underneath one of my Mom's needlepoint pillows that she'd left on the windowsill (I still don't know why she put it there) and opened it. It was Lucy calling.

"Well, shut it up!" Tawni screamed from over on the couch.

I pressed the speak button, and the MOOing instantly stopped. "There, ya happy now?" I asked, frustrated.

Lucy's voice came from over the phone. "Yeah, I'm happy. _You_ don't sound too happy, though. What's up, Sonny?"

I sighed. "Nothing, Luce," I said. "I just have Tawni over at my house. You know, for the science project."

Lucy's tone changed instantly to sympathy. "Oh, I pity you. So how're you dealing with the wicked witch?"

I glanced at Tawni, who was staring at her cup of apple juice like she thought it was filled with poison. "Eh. It's ok," I said, which wasn't really too much of a lie. "It could be worse, I guess. Though, I mean, we haven't made any progress so far..."

"Ah, you'll figure something out. By the way, I saw James at the grocery store today."

"James? Really?"

"Yeah, he talked about you a bit. Said you were just his type."

My heart felt like it was doing somersaults. "Seriously?"

"Allison!" Tawni yelled again from over on the couch. "Get off the phone!"

"I think I gotta go," I said into the phone, glaring at the back of Tawni's head. "I'll call you later, Lucy." I snapped my phone shut, then walked over to Tawni. "Look, if you aren't even going to try and think of a topic for our project, then maybe you should just go."

Tawni frowned at me. "Were you talking about James Conroy?"

Her question caught me off guard. "I guess. Why?"

"Did you go out with him already?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. I shook my head. "I had to cancel our date. That was my punishment for getting detention."

"Hmph. And was he ok with that?"

"Yeah," I told her. "He told me that he had to go to a soccer game, I think."

She laughed. "What, and you believed him?" Her tone suggested that she thought I was, like, an idiot or something. I felt the need to defend myself. "Of course I did. James is a nice guy."

Tawni shook her head. "Sure, he is. Well, Allison, you have fun with James while it lasts." She grinned at me. I'm still not quite sure what she was getting at with that whole conversation. But whatever.

"Thanks?" I said uncertainly. "Ok, back to our project. How about - "

She cut me off. Again. "Doesn't Chad Dylan Cooper live near here?"

I glowered at her. I was getting really sick of her trying to change the subject. "No. Back to science, please."

She continued to persist. "I think you're lying. He told me he lives on your street." She smirked. "He also told me about how you went to visit him and dropped a box on your foot. Is that true?"

Instead of answering her, I stood up and stalked off into the kitchen, just so that I could get away from her. It wasn't enough, though, because the sound of her loud voice followed me all the way there. "I'm pretty sure he lives around here. You know, we'd so make the perfect couple." That was the first thing she'd said all day that I actually agreed with. "I'm definitely going to go out with him."

I sighed, took a deep breath, then turned and walked back into the living room. "You already have a boyfriend," I told her as I made my way to the door.

Tawni scoffed. "What, you mean Harry? Oh, I dumped him last week. He's cute, but celebrities will beat football players any day."

She really is a snob.

Why am I surrounded by snobs, Diary? Whyyyy?

I shook my head in disgust, then opened the door and narrowed my eyes at her. "Ok, Tawni. I've tried to be nice, but now I realize that this was all just a big waste of time. If you're not going to help out, then please leave."

She stared at me. "What about our project?"

I threw my hands up in frustration. "You have to work with me, Tawni! We can't do this if you don't help out!"

She continued to stare at me. It was sort of freaking me out. All the same, I was really tired of being angry at everything. I mean, being angry isn't really in my nature. So I said, "Tawni, please, just try, ok?"

Silence. Then...

"Fine," Tawni said, looking grumpy.

I instantly felt incredibly happy. Had I actually finally gotten through to the wicked witch? Well, no, but at the time I thought I had. "Really? Great! Thank you, Tawni!" I started to run over to her, all set to give her a friendly hug, but she glared fiercely at me and said, "You hug me and I'll throw my stilettos at you." My desire to give her a great big hug immediately disappeared.

"I'll try and help out. But you have to do some things for me," she said in an authorative tone. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be good, but I nodded anyway, like the idiot that I am. "Sure."

"Show me where Chad's house is. Oh, and you have to take me to the mall on Friday. And do my history homework."

Those were definitely not things to agree with. Especially the homework thing. But I said yes. Anything to get this over with.

So I pointed out Chad's house, and when she found out that it was right next to mine, she passed out. At least, I think she did. I'm almost positive she was faking it, just to make me fuss over her or something. I didn't fall for it, though, and threatened to splash apple juice on her to make her come out of her fainting spell. She "miraculously" awoke the second I said that.

Anyway, I have a bad feeling she's going to be coming to my neighborhood a lot now that she knows exactly where Chad lives. Oh, boy.

And I have to do her homework. And take her to the mall on Friday. Sheesh, I just want to get the science project done! Why do I have to go through all this?

Dumb diary.

Anyway, after that Tawni strutted out of the house and left, saying that our little meeting changed absolutely nothing about our dislike for each other. Yay.

That's all I have to say, I suppose. Let's just hope that my day at school tomorrow will be good. I miss my lucky socks so much.

Hey! I think I might know where my lucky socks are! I bet you they're in my PE locker! I always stuff things in there and forget to take them out. Haha, I can't believe I didn't think of that before!

Ok. Well, then. Goodbye, Diary.

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**Tawni and Sonny are sort of bonding, I think. Maybe. Well, probably not. But possibly in the near future they will.**

**Next chapter should be better, since I've been planning it out for a while now.**

**Thanks for reading! If you could review, I'd really appreciate it. c:**

**~Ginger**


	12. September 12th

**Yay, new chapter. c: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I hope you guys like this one. It's kind of random, since I didn't really plan to do this, but I'm glad I did. I loved writing it. ^^**

**Enjoy!**

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September 12th

**My Room, 7:00 P.M.**

Ok, Diary, I've decided something. Since you bring such bad luck, I'm not gonna write in you every single day, like I'd been planning to do. I'll just write in you when there's something that really needs to be written down. Know what I mean? And hopefully if bad things quit happening to me, we can call a truce. Maybe.

All right, first most important thing that happened today: I did not find my lucky socks in my locker. Seriously? I'm getting desperate here! I don't know what to do anymore. They're not with Lucy, they're not at home, they're not at school... where could they flipping be?

This is pretty depressing.

Anyway, school was pretty boring today. Nothing really happened, and I didn't see James at all. The school party is coming up soon, so I hope he asks me to go soon. I mean, if no one asks me, I'm still gonna go, of course, but it'd kind of stink if I had no date. Of course, no one has asked Luce out yet, so maybe we can just go together as the BFFs that we are? I dunno.

And Tawni avoided me today. Like, completely. Normally she comes over to me at least once to make fun of me, but that didn't happen. Well, I guess that's an improvement. So... BOO YAH!

Ok, fine, so it's not _that_ much of an improvement, but still. Not speaking to me is better than mocking me.

But the weirdest thing happened this morning, when I left for school.

At first everything was normal. I woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, then went outside, all set to walk to school like I usually did. The sky looked pretty dark, but the weather forecast had said there would be no rain that day, and I believed it. I'm never believing the weather forecast again. Just saying.

So I walked down the sidewalk, keeping an eye out for any coins lying on the ground that I could add to my small pile of money. I probably only walked to the next block when I heard a rumble. I didn't think anything about it at first, but then I felt a drizzle. And then the drizzle turned into rain, and the rain turned into a downpour, and suddenly I was completely drenched.

Don't get me wrong, I love the rain. But this was way too much rain, even for me. I stopped and looked up at the sky. "Really? You hate me this much?" I asked the big guy, sighing and then determinedly (but not very excitedly) trudging forward.

That's when the weird thing happened.

As I was walked, pondering how my gloomy surroundings matched my mood completely, a car came up beside me. I didn't notice it at first, because I was too busy feeling miserable, but finally I realized that the car beside me was going incredibly slow, slow enough that it stayed right next to me the whole time I was walking. I stopped and stared at it, confused.

Then the window rolled down, revealing Chad Dylan Cooper, with his stupid good looks and his stupid smirk and his stupid... everything. "Hey, Sonny, how's it going?"

I glared at him. "Oh, it's going swell," I said sarcastically. I had to make my voice really loud so he could hear me over the roar of the rain. "I'm just, you know, taking a stroll through the rain."

Chad gazed at me with those ocean blue eyes of his, and I determinedly met his gaze. His eyes are really, really blue. Have I mentioned that before?

Anyway, Chad finally said, "Need a lift?"

I scoffed. "No, thanks." I strode forward, hoping maybe he'd go away. He didn't. He just kept driving along beside me, still talking to me through the window. "You're going to get a cold," he pointed out.

"I'd rather get a cold than ride in the same car with some self-centered jerk," I retorted, giving him the evil eye. He raised an eyebrow. "Really, Sonny? Really?"

"Yes, really," I snapped. "Just leave me alone, ok? It's bad enough I have to live next to you, so - "

"You're still not over that thing with your friend? I said I'm sorry," he cut me off, sounding bewildered. I stopped walking again and went up to the open window of his convertible. Bending down so that I was eye level with him, I said, "You never said that you were sorry," I told him.

"Uh, yes, I did," he argued.

"No, you didn't!"

His expression became thoughtful. "Well, I said it in my head, anyway."

I rolled my eyes. "That doesn't count, Chad. And besides, if I made _your_ best friend cry, would you forgive me that easily?"

He laughed arrogantly. "Sonny, please, my best friend is a guy. And guys don't cry."

I smiled sweetly at him. "I rest my case." With that said, I started to walk off again. I had no desire to deal with the king of drama. I just wanted to get to school as quickly as possible, and I would've been able to get there much sooner if he had just let me be. Which he didn't. His car still trailed alongside me as I walked.

I know what you're thinking. I should've just quit walking and started running. Yeah, I thought about that. But... I dunno. I didn't really want to. I wasn't in a running mood, I suppose. Either way, it probably wouldn't have made much difference. I can't exactly outrun a car.

Anywho, Chad said again, "Come on, Sonny, please get in the car."

"No way," I yelled at him.

"I said please!"

"Good for you."

"If you get in, you'll get to school faster!"

"I don't want to ride with you, you jerk!"

"But you're going to get sick!"

"I don't care!"

By now I'd stopped walking and was glaring at him again. Chad's expression changed from pleading to annoyed to ticked off in a matter of seconds. "Dammit, Sonny, just get in the car!"

"Don't you dare use that tone with me!" Wow, I sounded like some kind of mother for a second there.

Chad poked his head out of the window and got drenched in the process. He glared at me and repeated, "Just get in the car!"

I think that's when I realized that he wasn't going to go away unless I got in the stupid car. Irritated, I shouted back, "Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

I circled around the converitble, opened the door on the passenger side, and climbed in, slamming the door shut behind me. Even though I was angry, I noticed how comfy it was inside the vehicle. And how I was getting the seat of his expensive little car wet. But, you know what, it served him right! I combed through my dripping wet hair with my fingers, then folded my arms and glowered out the window.

Chad resumed driving, this time faster than the pace he'd been going previously, and muttered, "You made me get my hair wet."

"Oh, you poor baby," I said sarcastically.

"Do you know how long it takes to get my hair looking this perfect?" he asked, sounding aggravated. I rolled my eyes. "No, but I bet you're going to tell me."

I could feel his gaze on me. "Just for that, I'm not going to tell you," he said sourly, and I shrugged. "Fine."

I half expected him to say 'Fine' in reply, but he didn't. I was sort of disappointed, but at the same time relieved. Of course, after a few moments of being relieved, I suddenly realized how uncomfortably quiet it was in his car. I mean, the silence was deafening. I was tempted to turn the radio on, just so that the awkward silence would disappear, but I wasn't sure how Chad would react to that. So I kept my hands to myself.

But finally I just couldn't stand it anymore, I had to say something. "Chad?" I asked tentatively.

"What?" He still sounded annoyed. Great.

I hesitated before asking, "Why'd you help me?"

He scoffed. "What do you mean?"

I watched the windshield wipers move back and forth across the window. "You could've just left me out there. So why didn't you?"

There was a pause. I glanced over at him to see him frowning, though he didn't look mad anymore. Just uncertain. "I don't know." Then the uncertainty on his face disappeared, and he shrugged. "Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't leave ladies to walk in the rain."

"Of course not. Chad Dylan Cooper just makes ladies cry," I pointed out.

He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, ok? I'm serious. It's just... habit. I mean, I'm always Hollywood's bad boy, you know, so I have an image to keep up. And I can't let anything ruin my image."

"But that doesn't mean you have to be such a huge jerk to everyone," I said.

"Does it, Sonny? Does it really?"

Against my will, I smiled. "Very funny." I paused, then added, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He smiled back at me, then blinked. "You're shivering."

"No, I'm not," I said automatically, then glanced down at myself. Oh. I was shivering. Well, that was a surprise.

Chad stopped the car and started to take off his jacket. I protested, saying that he needed it more than I did, but he ignored me and draped the jacket around my shoulders. "Better?"

I nodded reluctantly. "Yeah." I couldn't understand why he was acting nice-ish all of a sudden. I still don't understand why, actually. I didn't mind it, though.

Then he ruined the moment by smirking and saying, "Now what I'd like to know is what kind of idiot would go walking through the rain without an umbrella?"

"The weather forecasters said it would be sunny today!" I defended myself.

"Oh, yes, because it's such a beautiful day outside," he said in a teasing tone of voice. I glared at him again, though I couldn't find the heart to truly be mad at him. "How do I know you didn't somehow make it rain, just to ruin my day?"

He grinned. "Don't flatter yourself, Munroe, I've got more important things to do than try to ruin your day."

"Well, isn't that ironic," I laughed. "You've been ruining my days since you got here."

And yaddah yaddah yaddah. The rest of our conversation isn't really that important to write down. But we continued our sort of playful banter all the way to school. Oh, man, you should've seen some of the shocked faces in the crowd of people by the door when my dripping wet self came out of Chad Dylan Cooper's car. Especially Tawni's. It was _priceless. _Now that I think about it, maybe that's why she didn't talk to me all day.

Oh, well, that's fine by me.

And Chad forgot to take back his jacket. I only realized this when I met up with Lucy later on, and she asked me where I got the jacket from. I looked for Chad so I could give it back to him, but I didn't see him the rest of the day.

Maybe he was avoiding me, too?

I hope not.

Not that I care or anything. Because I don't.

So... I still have his jacket. You wanna know what else I have? A cold. Halfway through the day, I started getting the sniffles, and by the time I got home I was sneezing. I guess Cooper was right. Gosh, I hope he doesn't find out that I have the beginnings of a cold. I mean, if he realizes that he was right, his head's going to swell even bigger than it already is. How do we know that one day his ginormous head isn't just going to explode from all that hot air he's got?

And when I say hot air, I don't mean that the air is hot, or that _he _is hot. Well... he is. But I'm not telling him that. And that's not what I mean. It just means that Chad thinks he knows everything and... stuff.

Ok, why am I explaining this to you? What am I, stupid?

Hmm... I'm starting to think I am stupid, based on all the dumb things I've been doing in the past few days.

Eh. A bit of stupidness never hurt anyone, I suppose.

Wait. What was that?

...

Oh my gosh, there's something tapping on my window! What is it? Maybe it's just a bird. Or a branch from that tree outside my window.

Or maybe it's a ghost! Mr. Leary down the street told me once when I was younger that some lady died on the site of our house, and that she still haunts the place. I've never heard any tapping at my window before, but... what if the ghost has decided to come back and haunt me?

Ahhh. Oh my gosh. Should I look out the window? What if the ghost kills me?

Ok, girl up, Sonny. You can do this. There's no such thing as ghosts, you aren't going to die.

I think.

But what if I do? I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE.

Um... ok. Here I go. Look, if I don't die, then... I'll call a truce. Ok? And if I do, well... it was nice knowing you, I guess.

Well. If I die today, then... goodbye, cruel world.

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**Oohhh. Suspense. Sorta.**

**Please review! I really appreciate feedback. :D Virtual cake to anyone who reviews! **

**(Gonna shamelessly advertise now) By the way, if you haven't read it already, please check out my other SWAC story, Chad Dylan Cooper On! It's actually my most popular story right now. I'd love it if you could read it. **

**Thanks for reading! :3**

**~Ginger**


	13. September 12th part 2

**Hey, guys! I'm officially a freshman! :D I actually love high school so far. The classes are fun, the food is pretty good, and so far everyone's friendly, which is weird, considering that it's high school and all, but very cool. I was sort of worried it would be like the high school I write about in here, haha. And we actually had a Back to School dance, which was really surprising for me, since I didn't expect it. At least now I sorta know how to write about the back to school dance in this story. **

**Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and put this story on their story alerts! It really means a lot to me. And the last chapter actually had the most reviews out of all of the chapters in here, which made me so happy. C:**

**Ok, enough of my babbling. Enjoy this new chapter! ^^**

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**My Room, almost 12:00 A.M.**

I really wish that idiot hadn't gone and freaked me out like that. Can you believe him? He's so aggravating. I mean, what kind of person just goes and scares the life out of someone like that? Urgh.

But on the plus side...

I'M ALIVE! OH YEAH, BABY!

Ahem. So... no, it wasn't a ghost. But... it could've been! You can't be too careful nowadays.

I guess I'll go ahead and tell you what happened, since I can't sleep anyhow. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I just can't seem to make myself go to the wonderful world of Dreamland. Sigh.

All right, so... where'd I last leave off? Oh, yes, me panicking about dying at the young age of 16. Right.

As soon as I finished writing in you, I flung you aside and grabbed the nearest object that I could use as a weapon, which happened to be a random large ball lying beside my bed. That was kind of stupid, actually. I mean, how could I have used a bouncy ball to defend myself against something that's already dead? But, you know, it's the thought that counts.

So I crept over to the window and cautiously opened it up, still clutching the ball in my hand. Then I poked my head outside into the cool night air (yet another stupid idea, since I'm sick and all) and called out nervously, "Hello?"

I didn't get a reply. I probably should've just closed the window and hid in my bed, but I wanted to be sure nothing bad was going to happen. So I opened the window a little wider and said, "Um, ghost? Do you think maybe you could just, you know, haunt some other place? Please? I've had a bad week, and the last thing I need is a ghost killing me... so, uh, are we good?"

My response was a low moan from below.

Ok, that was awfully creepy. So you really can't blame me for shrieking and chucking my ball in the direction the noise had come from.

"Ow!" the "ghost" yelled from somewhere in the tree.

The ghost didn't sound like a lady. And speaking of which, that voice was very familiar. At first I was confused, but then I gasped at a sudden revelation. "Chad?"

"What was that for?" his sullen voice came from the tree. Peering closer into the darkness of the leaves and whatnot, I could sort of see him clutching to a tree branch with one hand and rubbing his forehead with the other.

I opened my mouth to retort, but instead sneezed. Sniffling, I said with as much anger as I could muster, "_That_ was for pretending to be a ghost! Sheesh, Chad, you really are a jerk! I know you're trying to make my life miserable and all, but making ghost sounds underneath my window is going way too far!"

I think he glared at me. I'm not sure, since it was dark. "I wasn't trying to scare you! I hit my head on a tree branch, and then you hit me in the head with a ball, and it hurt. Do we understand each other now?"

"No!" I hissed. "And what are you doing in that tree?"

"I need to talk to you, and your mom wouldn't let me in the house," he shot back. "Look, I'll explain in a bit, but would you please help me through your window first?"

I frowned at him. "Why should I?"

"Because I'm about to fall off this stupid branch." Ok, so that was a good reason. But I still didn't want to let him come into my room. I gave him a silent glare, and he said in a pleading tone, "Please?"

I like to think that I would've refused and shut the window closed in his face. But in reality, I probably wouldn't have done that, because, unfortunately, I'm not that mean. And as much as I dislike the guy, I didn't want him to fall and break his neck on the sidewalk. "Fine," I said reluctantly, opened the window even wider, and reached out. "Grab my hand."

At first he sort of chickened out, because he was afraid that if he let go of the branch he'd fall down and smush his gorgeous face on the concrete (those were his words, not mine. Just saying). I mean, seriously. If he was so afraid of smushing his face, how had he even managed to climb the tree in the first place? But whatever. After I threatened to just leave him there, he finally did grab my hand, and then he managed to clamber through the window.

As he fell face first onto the floor, I rolled my eyes down at him. "Now was that so hard?"

"Yes," he said in a muffled voice into the purple rug I have beside my bed. Normally I would have found that pretty funny, but under the circumstances I wasn't amused. Not really. Well, maybe a tiny bit.

Anyway, I was about to demand to know why he was here, when I heard a knock on my door, and Mom's voice came from out in the hallway. "Sonny, is everything ok? I thought I heard you scream."

Needless to say, I panicked. I shoved Chad off the purple rug and towards my bed. "Hide under my bed!" I whisper yelled at him.

"But it's dark under there!" he whisper yelled back. "And there might be bugs and dust and - !"

"Just hide!"

He quickly crawled underneath, and I jumped onto my bed and laid down in a sort of/kind of casual position just as Mom said, "I'm coming in, sweetie," and opened the door.

"Hi, Mom," I said brightly.

She blinked at me in confusion. "Did you scream?"

"What?" I asked blankly. "Oh. Oh, yes, I did scream. I'm watching a scary movie, where the ghost came and scared the poor girl and... and ate her, and it was creepy, so I screamed," I babbled. I think I sounded pretty convincing. I'm not really sure, though.

Mom glanced at my TV. "The television isn't on."

I almost panicked again, but instead managed to keep my cool and nodded. "Um, yeah. That's because the movie was so scary that I had to turn it off. You know how I don't do well with scary movies." I tried to look a bit frightened, for better effect. I guess it finally worked, because Mom smiled and nodded. "That's true. Remember when we watched that movie one time, and you completely freaked out and hid in the bathroom for the rest of the day, and how - "

"Ok, Mom," I quickly interrupted, well aware that Chad was still under my bed and could hear everything. "Is that all you wanted? Because I have some extra homework to do..." I gestured towards my booksack.

"Oh, right, homework. Got'cha." Mom gave me a thumbs up. "Good night!" She closed the door, and I heard her footsteps receding down the hallway. As soon as she was gone, I plopped my head back onto my pillow and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God," I mumbled.

Yeah... my troubles weren't over, though.

Once my mom left, Chad stood up and stretched. "You should really clean up the floor under your bed, it's very cluttered," he said conceitedly.

I rolled over on my side and glared at him. "Ok, what do you want, Cooper?"

He sighed and wandered over to my bookshelf, peering at my various objects in a totally calm manner. "Oh, I dunno, I think maybe I'll just snoop around in your room awhile, just because I can..."

I hopped up and snatched a book he was flipping through out of his grasp. "Chad, just tell me what you came here for. Otherwise go out the way you came."

He rolled his eyes. "Jeez, you're touchy today." He pulled a pink folder out of some sort of bag I hadn't even realized he had and handed it to me. "Tawni told me to give you this. Apparently it's her history homework."

Ah, yes. Tawni wanted me to do her homework for her. Joy. "Great," I said unenthusiastically, taking the folder and tossing it onto my bed.

"And I want my jacket back, too," he added, holding out a hand expectantly. I wordlessly turned, pulled his jacket out of my booksack, and threw it at his head. It hit him right in the face. Score! "Can you go now?" I asked, then sneezed.

He frowned at me. "Did you just sneeze?"

"No, I - " I started to say, then stopped and sneezed again. Chad wagged his finger at me. "Ha, see, you're sick!" he said triumphantly. "I told you so!"

"Good observation, Sherlock," I said sarcastically.

He ignored my remark. "Seriously, Sonny, why do you walk to school? You're sixteen, right? I'm sure you've got a driver's license, so you can just drive to school. It'd save you a lot of trouble, don't you think?"

I grimaced. "Yeah, well... my mom's car is sort of off limits. I drove it once to go get some groceries, got distracted by a cute little cat, and almost wrecked the car. Mom didn't really appreciate that, so I'm banned from her car now."

"Then buy yourself a car of your own," he shot back. I laughed. "I wish I could. But not everyone's a rich celebrity like you are, Chad. I've only got, like, 5 bucks."

He looked surprised. "You're poor."

"No kidding." I sighed, then shook my head. "Why am I even talking to you? Can you please leave?"

He ignored that, too. "So are you feeling ok?"

I was getting sort of aggravated. "What do you think? And why are you even pretending to care, anyway? I think we both know you only care about yourself."

"That's not true!"

"Is it, Chad? Is it really?"

He glared at me, and I glared right back. It's funny, I noticed then that he was actually standing awfully close to me. Like, if he'd taken one step forward, he probably could've kissed me. Or something. That's how close we were. That didn't happen, though, thank God.

Instead, Chad just looked over my shoulder and randomly broke out into a grin. "A Mackenzie Falls boxed set?" He walked over to my table and picked up the Mack Falls DVD set that was sitting there. I ran over and tried to take it away from him, but he held it out of my reach. Darn my shortishness. "I thought you hated me, Munroe," he teased.

"I do," I argued, jumping up to try and grab the DVD out of his hand. I failed, of course. "But just because I hate you doesn't mean I hate your show. Besides, Mackenzie's very dashing." I smiled in spite of myself.

Chad stared at me. "Sonny, Mackenzie and I are the exact same person."

I scoffed. "Maybe in looks, but not in personality. You are a complete snob. Mackenzie, on the other hand, is brave, fearless, passionate, kind, loyal..." I trailed off and gazed dreamily into space. Then Chad had to go and interrupt my reverie by smirking and saying, "Passionate? Let's take a trip to your bed over there, and I'll show you passionate." He waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively. Ew.

"You have a dirty mind," I said in disgust, shoving him away from me. He just smiled innocently and said, "Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment," I informed him, and he shrugged. "Like I care." Then he brightened. "Look, there's something else I want to tell you. I have a sort of proposition for you." He paused dramatically, and I just narrowed my eyes at him. When he realized that I didn't care at all for his dramatic act, he sighed and went on. "I'll drive you to school every day, if you do something for me."

Ok. So the driving to school thing sounded promising. But I had a tiny feeling of dread somewhere deep inside me. "I'd rather not do anything for a jerk like you. Especially if it involves anything passionate."

He smirked at me again. "It can if you want it to."

I sent him a death glare, and he held up his hands defensively. "Ok, ok. So how about it?"

"I just said no!"

"I'll pay you."

"Sign me up," I said without thinking. Chad actually smiled. Not a smirk, a smile. Weird, right? It was a nice change, though. "I need you to babysit my sister."

"And sign me off again," I said, frowning. He gave me a pleading look. "Please? Filming starts this week, and Mom will be on the set with me. Claire's going to be home alone, and you're the only person I know who lives nearby that could help me."

"Chad, if you haven't noticed, your sister hates my guts," I told him. His eyes widened in surprise that I could so tell was fake. "She doesn't hate you!" he gasped.

I laughed dryly. "Sure she doesn't. She just called me ugly because it was opposite day and threw a pinecone at me because she wants me to be her friend. Don't deny it, Chad, she hates me."

"She threw a pinecone at you?" He looked amused. I shrugged. "Well, at my ice cream, anyway."

"Look, I'll tell her to lay off you for the most part. Trust me, she'll do what I tell her. And besides, it'll only be on the weekends," he added.

I considered it for a second. I was pretty sure Claire wouldn't lay off me at all. Well, not too much, anyway. I don't trust that kid any farther than I can throw her, which isn't very far, since I have pretty much zero upper body strength. But maybe I could also get her to warm up to me. Not likely, but possibly. "How much will you pay?" I asked cautiously.

"100 dollars an hour," he said.

I gaped at him, searching for some sign that he was just kidding. He was completely and utterly serious. "100 bucks?" I repeated in slight shock. "An hour? That's crazy!"

"Well, you want to buy a car for yourself, don't you?" he asked calmly.

Argggh. I hate him. Sooooo much.

"Fine," I said reluctantly. "I'll babysit the mini Taw - I mean, your sister."

"Good," he said, grinning.

"Good," I retorted, not wanting to be outdone.

"Good."

"Good."

Seriously. Why do we keep doing that? It's so stupid. Ok, I guess it's entertaining, in a way, but still.

"Good, then it's settled," he said, looking satisfied. "I'll drive you to school once you're not sick. The greatest actor of our generation does not need a cold."

Right on cue, I sneezed again. "Uh huh," I said, sniffling. "Now get out of here before my mom decides to come back and check on me again."

"All right, then," he said, giving me a wink that actually made my breath catch in my throat. Pathetic, I know. "Catch ya later, Sonny." He opened the window, grabbed ahold of one of the sturdy tree branch hanging right there, and shimmied down the tree.

Now that I think about he, he went down that tree really fast for someone who'd been scared of falling on his face earlier. You know, I'm half starting to think he just pretended to be scared that way I'd grab his hand or something. But that's only something I'd expect other boys to do. I'm sure Chad wouldn't do that, especially since he doesn't like me. Right?

RIGHT?

Right.

So... pretty eventful night, huh? I had a celebrity hiding under my bed. Fantastic. I wonder what Lucy would say if I told her about this. She'd probably think I was nuts for letting Chad inside my room. I wouldn't blame her if she did. Maybe I really am going crazy, I don't know.

And apparently I have to babysit Claire on the weekends. Yay.

I hope she doesn't tie me up and lock me in a closet. I wouldn't put it past her.

Oh. Since I didn't die and all, I guess that means I have to call a truce, huh? Eh. Well, all right, then. We'll have a truce. I don't like it, but I suppose you've earned it, since you didn't use your bad luck on me this time. That doesn't mean I'm going to write in you every day, though! No, sirree! I refuse to write in you tomorrow. Well, techinically it already is tomorrow, since it's past 12 AM... but you know what I mean!

That's what you get, Diary. Ha!

All right, then. I finished Tawni's history homework (blegh) and wrote in you, and now I'm tired. I can finally go to sleep. Yes! Good night, then, Diary.

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**I hope you guys liked it! I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. C: I can't wait to get started on future chapters for this, though updates will take a while, because of high school. **

** Reviews would be very much appreciated! :D Thanks for reading!**

**~Ginger**


	14. September 16th

**Ah, I already have 80 reviews! :'D Maybe I will get to 100 before the 17th chapter. Yay!**

**Anywho, enjoy this new chapter! c:**

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September 16th

**The porch, 6:30 P.M.**

_Dear Diary,_

Yes, I'm addressing you by 'dear' again. Enjoy it while it lasts.

First thing I need to say... HA! I haven't written in you in exactly four days! What now, Diary? That's what you get! How did it feel to be deprived of the comfort of a pen/pencil writing in your pages? I bet it felt absolutely terrible, and you were probably miserable. Well, now you know how your bad luck made me feel. So I guess we're even.

All right, now that I've got that all cleared up, here's what's been happening since I last wrote in you.

The day after Chad made his random visit to my bedroom, I woke up sneezing even worse than the last night, and coughing, too. Not to mention my nose was all stuffed up and I had to breathe through my mouth most of the day. Blegh. I hate doing that.

Anyway, at first I was sort of depressed, but then I figured, hey, I could totally use this sickness to my advantage! I could stay home and chillax in front of the TV, and I wouldn't have to give Tawni her stupid history homework. It would've been so satisfying to hear that she got a big fat F because her homework didn't get turned in, hehe. Unfortunately, Mom ignored all my pleas and told me that I had to go to school anyway. Gah.

Chad passed by me in his convertible as I was trudging off on the way to school, and he rolled down the window to laugh at my bad fortune before zooming off. Jerk.

That day was overall bad. The only perk was that I accidentally sneezed on Tawni when I gave her her homework back. She sort of screeched at me in an extremely funny way, then ran off to go find some Germ X or something. Hey, if I'm lucky, maybe she'll get sick, too! But probably not, because I'm never lucky these days (your fault).

Then on Wednesday, my cold wasn't as bad as it was before, but it was still there. I could breathe a lot more easily, though. Anyway, I was telling Lucy about how the dance was this Saturday, and how James still hadn't asked me to go with him. Then she told me, "Sonny, it's a girls ask guys thing. Remember?"

"No, it's not," I said, scoffing.

She then held up a flyer and waved it in front of my face. "Do me a favor and read this." She didn't really didn't give me a choice about it, actually, so I read it, and everything magically explained itself. Apparently it really _was_ a girls ask guys thing. How had I forgotten that? "Oh," I said, feeling like a complete idiot. Then I excused myself and made a mad dash towards the cafeteria line, where James was talking to one of his senior buddies. Before I could chicken out, I tapped him on the shoulder and blurted out quickly, "Hey, James, I just found out that the girls are supposed to ask guys out to the dance on Saturday which I didn't really know before which is why I didn't ask you so I was just wondering if you'd like to go with me and it's ok if you say no because I'll understand - "

He cut me off with a smooth, "Sure, I'd love to go with you." Then he winked at me, which just made me blush like crazy, and then he walked off.

God, he's so cute.

Oh, and then yesterday I bumped into Chad after PE. I think he made fun of my messy hair or something, I'm not really sure, and then he asked me if I had a date to the dance. That question definitely took me a back. I remember gaping at him, and when I finally found my voice I choked out, "Why?"

He shrugged. "Just wondering. So do you?"

"Um," was all I could say.

"I'll take that as a no," he said, smirking. "No one wanted to go with you, huh? Tsk. It's not your fault that you're such a turn off, Munroe." What. A. Snob. "I pity you," he went on conceitedly. "You know, if you want, I could go with you to the dance, just so that you don't make a bigger fool of yourself than you already are." He gave me a broad grin, like he thought he was doing me a favor or something.

At first I was just shocked. Then his words sunk in, and I got ticked off. "For your information, I already asked someone, and he said yes," I said heatedly, glaring at him.

His grin faded slightly. "Seriously?"

I nodded smugly. "Mmhm. Not bad for a turn off like me, huh?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Who is this guy?" he asked, looking annoyed.

Before I could answer him, the bell rang, which gave me the excuse I needed to flee from his snobbishness. I never would've thought that I'd be so glad to go to geometry, but I was that time.

That's pretty much the only stuff that happened to me in the past few days that's worth mentioning in here. Nothing bad, thankfully.

Today, on the other hand, was a completely different story. I'm still not sure what to think about it.

After a totally uneventful day at school, I was heading out the front doors, trying to remember if I'd been assigned any algebra homework or not, when I suddenly found my path blocked by Tawni. Just great. "Hi," I said, trying to be nice."How was your day?"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't want to know how your day was, so don't ask me how mine was." Rude much? "Are you ready?"

I stared at her, confused. "Huh?"

She frowned at me. "Allison, are you pretending that you don't know or are you just naturally stupid?"

I glared at her. "Tawni, if you're just going to insult me, then please go away." I started to move around her, but she stepped in front of my path and placed her hands on her hips. "You promised that you would come with me to the mall today," she said slowly, as though talking to a child.

I was about to tell her that I'd never done any such thing, but then I blinked and remembered what had happened when she came to my house. "Oh," I said, blinking in realization.

She let out a dramatic sounding sigh. "Idiot." Then she flipped her hair and said, "Look, Allison, quit wasting time. There's a sale going on at Forever 21 and I have to get there before all the good accessories are taken. So quit gaping and get your ass over to my car." With that, she turned and stalked off, shaking her booty behind her as she walked in a way that made all the guys who happened to be nearby stare.

I sighed. That girl has issues. Anywho, it seemed I had no other options, since this was one of the things I'd promised her I'd do in exchange for her help on our science project. So, feeling miserable, I pulled out my cell phone, called my mom to tell her I'd be a bit late coming home, then trudged off after the mistress of evil.

Tawni was already in the driver's seat of her obnoxiously pink (yes, pink. Surprise, surprise) corvette, tapping her finger impatiently on the steering wheel as I got into the passenger's seat. "Took you long enough," she snapped.

"It only took, like, thirty seconds," I said, exasperated.

She scoffed in a dismissive way, then pulled out of the school parking lot, nearly running over a poor freshman in the process (not that she cared), and drove off. The drive was overall quiet. It wasn't a comfortable silence, or even an awkward silence. I'm not sure how to describe it, really, but I didn't really like it too much. I tried to make friendly conversation with Tawni. Key word being 'tried'.

"Your earrings are nice," was one of the things I attempted to compliment her on. I guess I was hoping a compliment would warm her up to me.

She just gave me a smug little smile. "Of course they are. I spent more than two hundred dollars on them. I doubt you could afford something as expensive as this, huh, Allison?"

I sank lower into my seat and shut up. Like I said before, I don't usually let Tawni get to me, but... well, sometimes she succeeds.

When we finally got to the mall (the mall actually isn't too far from school and it probably only took about fifteen minutes to get there, but the cold silence made it feel more like fifteen hours), Tawni parked and then faced me, the usual 'I'm-the-boss-and-you're-just-an-unpopular-loser-so-you-better-listen-to-me' look on her face. "Listen closely, Allison, and don't make me repeat myself," she hissed. "You will carry all my bags for me. And no complaining, either. I hate it when people complain."

"Like I care," I couldn't resist saying. She gave me the evil eye, and I returned her hateful look with an innocent smile. "I'm just telling the truth, Tawn."

"Don't call me that," she said curtly.

"I won't call you that if you quit calling me Allison," I replied evenly.

She made a 'tsk' noise, which I guessed was a no, then got out of the car and slammed the door behind her. I got out, too, and together we made our way into the mall, with Tawni in the lead, of course, and pretending like I didn't exist.

As soon as we got in the mall, Tawni made a beeline for Forever 21. I followed slowly behind her, pausing at the Auntie Anne's pretzel stand to stare at the delicious looking cinnamon pretzels. My mouth seriously started to water, and I was about to fish out some money to buy one of the pretzels when Tawni's voice yelled, "Come on, Allison!"

I took one last wistful look at the pretzels, then walked over to Tawni. "Can't I at least get a pretzel?" I asked hopefully. Naturally, my hopes were crushed underneath her stilettos (not literally, of course) when she said in a snobby voice that made me think immediately of Chad, "This isn't about you, Allison. This is about _me_. Now follow me, and try not to talk. Your chatter is really annoying." Her voice is really annoying, too, but you didn't see me complaining, now, did you?

I'm going to spare you the details of Tawni's shopping spree in Forever 21. Let's just say she ended buying a ton of expensive clothes and made me carry every single bag. I have no idea how I managed to carry 10 heavy bags in my arms. I also have no idea how Tawni apparently didn't notice how much trouble I was having. She's so inconsiderate and self-centered. I know I've probably said that a lot, but it's so, so true.

As we were walking out of Forever 21, I noticed something. If I'd had any sense at all, I would've just kept it to myself. But I guess I really am as stupid as Tawni says I am, because I asked, "Hey, Tawni, where's your earring?"

"On my ear. Duh." She shook her head. "Really, Allison, this stupidity of yours is getting old very fast."

I frowned at her, frustrated. "I'm not stupid! And I'm serious, it's not there."

She scoffed at me some more, but when she touched her hand to her left ear her face drained of color. "It's not there!" she gasped.

"No," I said sarcastically. "It's not like I've been trying to tell you that for the past two minutes or anything."

"Allison, quit it with the sarcasm!" she yelled, sounding terrified. "Those were my mother's earrings! This is bad, this is really, really bad." She started to pace back and forth. "Do you know how expensive those were?" she ranted, her face still pale. "I'm dead. I'm so damn dead."

Now that I think about it, didn't she tell me before that she'd bought those earrings herself? Huh. She must've been lying. Well, whatever. I set down the bags on the ground and rubbed my arms. "Tawni, the earring was on when we were in Forever 21. So it must be in there somewhere." She stared at me with wide eyes, and I found myself saying reassuringly, "Don't worry, I'll get it back, I promise."

What the hell? What was I thinking, promising stuff like that to my sworn enemy? Fail, Sonny. Just... fail.

Without waiting for her to reply, I said, "Watch the bags", then ran back into the store. I pushed through the crowd of people, which mainly consisted of teenage girls, and looked around for a green dangly earring thing. Maybe it was lying on the ground, or maybe it had fallen into the bucket of bracelets that was in the front of the store. I checked completely random places, keeping an eye out for anything green and sparkly. I even went and asked around to see if anyone had found an earring, but no one had.

I was about to give up when I saw it. It was next to a rack of clothes that Tawni had been looking through earlier. I started to run over to the earring, but I wasn't fast enough. Some redhead girl got there before me and picked up the earring. As I approached, I overheard her say eagerly to a friend, "Hey, this is nice. Let's see if we can find the other earring!"

"Um, excuse me?" I said, skidding to a stop next to the two girls. I gestured to the earring. "That's my friend's. She lost it earlier, and I need it back." I gave her a friendly smile.

Redhead Girl frowned at me. "Really?"

"She's lying," her friend piped up, giving me a glare. "She just wants it for herself."

I shook my head. "I'm not lying. May I please have it back?"

The redhead looked uncertainly from me to her friend, then curled her fingers around the earring. "No. I found it first," she said stubbornly.

Oh, jeez. "Look, I'm not kidding," I tried to say calmly.

"I'm not kidding either. It's mine," she retorted.

I don't break my promises. So I was getting Tawni's stupid earring back whether she liked it or not. "No, it's not!" I yelled, then grabbed a coat off a hanger and whipped it at her face. She didn't expect it, so she shrieked and dropped the earring as she tried to swipe off the coat. I bent down, quickly grabbed the earring, then rushed off, with the redhead's friend shrieking, "Get back here!" Get back there? Ha! No way! I ignored her and rushed off towards the entrance.

I rushed over to where Tawni was standing, and she turned around with a hopeful expression on her face. "Did you get it?"

I had a feeling those two girls would be chasing us any second, and I was right, because they suddenly appeared outside of Forever 21 and stared around, probably searching for me. I grabbed some of Tawni's bags, pushed them into her hands, then snatched up the rest. "Yeah, but we should probably go."

"But - "

"NOW!" I yelled just as the two girls spotted me and started to run over. They just couldn't get over it, could they? Sheesh. People these days.

Oddly enough, Tawni didn't argue with me, and we dashed out of the mall as fast as we possibly could with all those bags. Once we got outside, I think the girls stopped following us, but Tawni and I kept running anyway. As soon as we got to her car, we dumped the bags inside, hopped in, and then were off! Thank God. I guess it could've been a lot worse, but still.

I sighed and rested my head back against the comfy seat. "Here," I said tiredly, tossing the earring onto Tawni's lap. "I hope you're happy."

Tawni was quiet for a long while, and at first I thought she hadn't heard me. Then...

"Thanks."

I stared at her, stunned. Her eyes were focused on the road, but there was no doubt that she'd said the T word. I wouldn't have believed that Tawni Hart was actually saying 'thanks' to me if I hadn't heard it with my own ears.

"No problem?" It came out more like a question. I could swear that I saw the corners of Tawni's mouth lift slightly, but I probably imagined it from my exhaustion.

There was another brief moment of silence, then Tawni stopped the car beside the road. I didn't understand what she was doing until she turned to me and said, "Don't go to the dance with James."

I blinked at her in surprise. "What?"

"You helped me, so I'm going to help you." I searched Tawni's face for some sign that she was kidding, or mocking me. Anything. But she looked completely serious. "Tell him you changed your mind. Go with Lulu. Just don't go with _him_."

"Her name's Lucy," I automatically corrected, and Tawni rolled her eyes. "You're missing the point, you dork."

Ok, so some things were still normal. I sighed. "Look, Tawni, I like James, and he likes me. What's the big deal? James is a nice guy."

Her expression looked sort of pained. "You don't know him."

I suddenly felt defensive. "What, and you do?" I countered back. "I haven't seen you talk to the guy once. Never. I talk with him all the time, and he's really sweet and sensitive. Trust me, I know him."

She shook her head, then said urgently, "Allison, shut up for a second and listen. He's not the guy you think he is. If you go out with him..." She hesitated, which gave me the time I needed to jump in and interrupt. "Tawni, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm going to the dance with James no matter what you say."

She gazed at me for a moment. "Fine," she said, sounding like her normal contemptuous self again. "Don't say I didn't warn you when it happens." I was going to ask her what she meant by that, but then she flipped her hair and turned her attention back to the steering wheel. "I'll drop you off at your house." With that she turned on the radio way up high and ignored me for the rest of the drive, leaving me to wonder what the heck that was all about.

Which brings me to now.

I mean, I don't know what Tawni was going on about. James is a great guy! I would've noticed if he wasn't the guy I thought he was. Tawni was probably just trying to psyche me out. Maybe if I don't go with James she'll somehow use that against me to humiliate me. Somehow. Who knows what goes on through that twisted mind of hers?

Whatever. I won't think about it anymore.

I can't wait for the dance tomorrow, though!

But... I have to babysit Claire, too.

...I have conflicting feelings about tomorrow. Maybe the mini Tawni won't make any trouble for me? Pfft. Yeah, right.

I have to go now, Diary. Mom just called to say it's time for dinner.

By the way, I still have to think of a name for you, don't I? That's right. Darn, I have a lot of things to do. Well, ok, then. Bye!

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**Ooh. Is Tawni lying? Or is she telling the truth?**

**Review, please! :D**


	15. September 17th

**Ah, almost 100 reviews! It's so close. :'D Yay, I'm so incredibly happy! Thanks, guys! Anywho, I did my best to hurry up and write this. c:**

**Enjoy!**

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September 17th

**In the living room, 7 something P.M. **

_Dear Diary,_

AH! It's almost time for the dance! I'm already dressed in this nice red cocktail dress that I look really cute in, and now I'm just waiting for Lucy to come pick me up. We're going to ride together in her car (she got a car before I did. Lucky duck) to school and meet our dates in the gym.

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited! I bet it's gonna be great! Well, it better be great, anyway, after the day I just had. Sheesh, mini Tawni's a piece of work. Well, ok, she wasn't as bad as I thought she'd be, but still.

Seriously, all these Cooper kids need to quit being so darn confusing, because they're really getting on my nerves.

Well, while I wait for Luce, I might as well tell you what went on with my little babysitting job.

Let's see...

I woke up at, like, 9 AM this morning and just sat in bed for a bit, feeling totally relaxed for the first time in about a week. I basked in the warm feeling of contentment for about a minute. Then my cell phone happened to moo, and when I answered it my brief period of bliss was destroyed when the person on the other line yelled, "Sonny, where the hell are you?"

I rubbed my eyes blearily, trying to place who the voice belonged to, and then asked in confusion, "Chad?"

"No, Elmo from Sesame Street. Of course it's me!" His sarcastic voice made me feel a twinge of annoyance. So much for the good mood I'd just been in. "Where are you?"

"Where in the world do you _think _I am? I just woke up, genius," I said, frowning. "And how'd you even get my number?"

He avoided my question, which probably should've made me suspicious, but I was too annoyed to care. "Never mind that. Look, I've got important things I need to do, so just get over here now!" With that nice little parting shout, he hung up on me.

I glared at my cell phone. "Make me," I muttered, sticking my tongue out at it. I was very tempted to toss my phone aside, ignore Chad's demand, and duck back under my warm blanket. Then a beautiful image of one hundred dollar bills appeared in my mind, and with new motivation I hopped out of bed and changed quickly into a T-shirt and an old pair of skinny jeans that I hadn't used in a while. I tied my hair into a messy ponytail, grabbed my bag, then barged down the stairs.

"Hi, Mom! Bye, Mom!" I called as I ran past her in the living room.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Coopers. Babysitting. See ya!" I didn't wait to see if she'd understood what I said or not and rushed outside, almost tripping over myself to get to the next door house. Pathetic, right? But hey, I needed that money.

I hadn't run far, but I was already out of breath by the time I reached the Coopers' front porch. Obviously I'm not in shape. Not that I care. I knocked on the door and waited.

I heard the thud of footsteps from somewhere inside the house, and someone's muffled yell of, "I'll get it!" Then the door opened to reveal Chad, looking as aggravatingly hot as usual, with a frustrated expression on his face. When he saw me, though, his expression changed briefly to relief, and then annoyance. "Took you long enough!"

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" I asked, crossing my arms and glaring at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Look, just - " Then he paused for some reason and stared at me with raised eyebrows.

His scrutinizing gaze made me feel a bit uncomfortable. "Quit checking me out," I said without thinking. Oh, God, I can't believe I even said that. Someone shoot me, please.

He cleared his throat. "Checking you out? Ha! In your dreams, Sonny. Now get inside." When I frowned at him, he sighed and added, "Please."

"Much better," I huffed, stepping inside the house.

Mrs. Cooper walked into the room just as I stepped in, and her face broke out into a smile when she saw me. "Oh, hello, Sonny! Chad didn't tell me that _you _were going to babysit Claire." She eyed her son, and Chad just rolled his eyes again. "I didn't think it was that important. Anyway," he said, turning to me as I smiled at Mrs. Cooper. "We have to go now, so take care of Claire, ok? And don't forget to feed her if she gets hungry."

"You make her sound like a dog," I said sarcastically.

"Blahblahblah," he said, pantomiming the whole 'blahblahblah' thing with this hand. "Just do it. And keep her happy, too. Now goodbye." He stalked out the door, and I made a face after him.

Mrs. Cooper started to follow him, but paused beside me and said, "If Claire gives you any trouble, don't be afraid to call me," she said, giving me a smile.

I actually felt sort of touched by her offer. She's so incredibly nice. Really, how is it possible that Chad and Claire are the spawn of such a nice lady? "Thanks, Mrs. Cooper, I'll keep that in mind," I said, giving her a big smile. Though I silently promised myself that I wouldn't call Mrs. Cooper no matter what. I was going to handle Claire myself.

There was a loud honk from outside, and Chad's voice called, "Mother, we gotta go!"

Mrs. Cooper chuckled and said, "Claire's in the living room. Thanks for helping out, Sonny." She gave me a quick hug, then walked calmly outside, shutting the door behind her.

And then I was alone, with the little demon child somewhere in the living room. Great.

Well, so long as I kept that pile of money in mind, everything would be ok. Probably.

I cautiously made my way into the living room and peered around the corner of the wall to see Claire, laying upside down on the sofa and reading Tween Weekly. I coughed to make my presence known. "Hey, Claire!" I said with all the friendliness I could muster.

Claire lowered her magazine, sat up, and narrowed her eyes at me. "Babysitter," was her curt greeting.

"You can call me Sonny," I said tentatively.

"Whatever." Claire turned her attention back to her magazine. "So how much is Chad paying you for this?"

The question kind of took my aback, but I answered truthfully, "One hundred dollars an hour."

Mini Tawni promptly doubled over in laughter. "A hundred bucks?" she choked out through her giggles. "That's it? Wow, you're cheap. Chad usually has to pay a thousand an hour for my babysitters!"

I think I almost passed out. "A thousand?" I asked in a shrill voice. "That much?"

She smirked at me. "Oh, right, I forgot. You're poor. Too bad you don't have good looks to make up for that little drawback."

I nearly snapped an indignant reply at her, but caught myself before I said something I would regret. After all, even if the kid was a demon child, she was still only, like, ten years old. And you don't snap at ten year old kids, no matter how bratty they're being. It's an unspoken rule that everyone I know follows. I think.

So I forced a smile on my face and said, "So how long will the filming take?"

"Two hours," she said in an offhanded manner. "It'd be longer, but they're not actually filming, apparently."

Yes, because I so cared if they were actually filming or not. Ha, definitely not. I don't care about _anything_ that has to do with Chad. No, the thing I cared about at that moment was the fact that I had to spend two hours with mini Tawni. Yay...

"Well, what do you do for fun?" I asked brightly.

"Watch Mackenzie Falls," she answered promptly.

"Besides that," I said, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

She shot me a dirty look. "Look, Sonny, let's get one thing straight right now. I don't need a babysitter," she said slowly. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. So you can go."

"But I need money," I said before I could stop myself.

She pointed at me triumphantly. "I knew you were only in this for the money!"

Well... that was kind of the point, right?

She got to her feet and walked over to me, frowning at me with her tiny arms folded in front of her. "Why don't you just take a hint and stay away from my family?"

I frowned back. Seriously, the nerve of this kid! "I'd love to," I replied calmly. "Though it's sort of hard, since your family moved right next door to me and all. And your brother goes to my school and likes sneaking into my room for fun."

"Huh?"

Oh, right. She was completely clueless about the whole Chad climbing through my bedroom window thing. Oops. "Uh, I mean... nothing," I said quickly. Claire gave me a suspicious look, and I changed the subject before she could ask me any awkward questions. "Really, Claire, why do you seem to dislike me so much? I haven't done anything to you at all."

"True. But you dissed my brother. Therefore I don't like you," she said.

"You didn't like me even before that, I think," I pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't take that personally," she said in a way that made me want to take it personally. Then she added matter-of-factly, "I hate all of my brother's potential girlfriends."

Ha! Haha! Haha...

What?

"I'm sorry, what'd you just say?" I asked in disbelief.

She sighed, suddenly not looking like a miniature Tawni Hart and just looking like... well, like a regular little kid. She didn't actually answer my question, but went on to say, "Lots of girls want to be Chaddy's girlfriend. But they don't actually like him, not really. They just want expensive gifts, and their picture in magazines, and fame and blah. And when he dates someone, he's not around as much, and there's no one to play with." She frowned, and I found my heart going out to the kid. I mean, isn't that so sad?

Then my heart came back to me when Claire glared at me and finished in a cold voice, "I doubt you're any different from those girls, except for the fact that you aren't at all pretty. That's one thing they had going for them. So my point is, I hate you."

Well. Everything was suddenly making sense now.

Although did she really have to keep telling me how not pretty I am? I mean, I get that I'm not gorgeous or anything, but there was no need to rub it my face.

Anyway.

I stared at her for a few seconds, then laughed. "Wow, ok. Claire, I seriously do not want to be Chad's girlfriend, ok? Really, that is the last thing on earth I'd ever want to do."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

I nodded firmly. "Yep. So you don't have to worry about me dating your brother and keeping him from spending time with you." I gave her a big smile, convinced that now she'd be cool with me and we could go make macoroni necklaces together or something.

I was wrong, naturally.

"So you're saying that you aren't attracted to Chad at all?" she continued in a voice filled with total disbelief.

"I'm definitely not attracted to him at all," I lied. Because, well... I kind of am. Just because of his looks, of course! Don't get me wrong, I hate him, but... he's still hot. I know, I know, I'm such a pathetic excuse for a human being.

She continued to frown at me. Then she suddenly smiled, and her hazel eyes sparkled mischieviously. "I bet you fifty bucks that you're gonna fall in love with my brother before we go back to California."

I promptly cracked up and was unable to speak for about three minutes. Every time I started to talk I'd just burst into another round of laughter. Claire watched me, tapping her foot impatiently as I practically rolled on the ground in mirth.

Finally, I wiped tears from my eyes and said, "That is the stupidest bet I've ever heard anyone make."

"So you accept?"

"Claire, I will never fall for Chad. And I don't want to take a little kid's money," I protested.

She grinned. "You won't be taking my money, because I'll be taking yours."

"But I don't like him!"

"Yeah, right."

"But... I don't!"

"Well, maybe not now," she said, shrugging. "But you probably will eventually. And then I'll be right, as usual. I love being right." She smiled sweetly at me.

I narrowed my eyes. "Well, this time you're gonna be wrong!"

"Really, now?"

"Yes, really! You're on!"

She held out her hand resolutely, and I took her hand and shook it. "Easiest fifty bucks I'll ever make."

She giggled. "That's what you think. My brother's pretty irresistable, you know." Then she smiled, a real smile that I'd never seen on her face before. Well, not directed at _me_, anyway. But this time it was. Maybe I am making some progress with her? I dunno. Either way, I had to smile back. "If he is, then how come I've been able to resist him this long?"

"Because you're a freak of nature," she said seriously.

I shook my head. "You really take after your brother."

"Well, he did teach me everything I know."

Figures. I sighed. "So are we good now?"

She squinted at me. "Hmm. I guess. Sort of. Of course, once I win the bet, I will resume hating you as usual." A thoughtful expression appeared on her face. "Although this little truce doesn't neccessarily mean I have to behave while you're babysitting me..." With a devilish smile, she snatched my bag out of my hands and ran off.

"Hey!" I gasped, staring after her. "Give that back!"

She stuck her tongue out at me. "I don't think so." As she spoke, she dug around in my bag, and her smile widened as she pulled something out. That something happened to be you, Diary. Seriously, what the heck were you doing in my bag? Did you grow legs and walk inside or something? Because I sure don't remember putting you in there.

Then again, maybe I was sleepwalking and happened to shove you inside my bag... I dunno.

"What's this?" Claire asked. She looked at your cover and read aloud, "Property of Sonny Munroe. Do not open. Please." She snorted. "Lame. What, is this like your diary or something?"

I hurried up to her and attempted to take you and my bag out of her hands. "Ok, that's enough looking at my stuff for today."

She gasped. "It _is_ a diary, isn't it?"

"No! It's just a, uh... cookbook," I said lamely. "I carry it around with me just in case I want to make rice or something."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" She opened up the diary to a random page and smirked. "Ooh, you wrote something about Chaddy in here! I wonder what it could be. Possibly something embarassing?"

I felt my face pale, and I lunged forward to try and grab you. "Please give it!"

"Never! Mwahaha!" Ok, so she didn't actually do that evil laugh, but it makes the whole situation more dramatic, I think. And she probably laughed like that in her head. Anywho, she ducked, then scampered off, waving you around in the air and laughing, "You'll never catch me, loser!"

So I had no choice but to chase after her all around the house. I chased her upstairs and downstairs and around the kitchen table and pretty much everywhere until she tripped over her shoelace, which randomly untied itself while she was running. I let out a triumphant cry and grabbed you out of her grasp, then did a victory dance. "Oh, yeah, I got it, you didn't, haha, oh yeah!" I sang.

Claire got up and rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes. What an accomplishment. Your diary sucks, by the way. You write terribly."

"I do not!"

Then we went into a debate over whether or not my writing was better than hers, which someone turned into a conversation about mangos and then a contest over who could come up with the best insult. Then she forced me to watch Spongebob Squarepants for the remaining hour, which was terrible because the Spongebob shows nowadays are practically unbearable to watch. Really, they stink.

Anywho, then Chad and his mom came back, and my time with Claire was totally worth it, because I got two hundred dollars.

TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. IN CASH.

Holy crap. I'm still sort of stunned.

And I'll be getting fifty extra bucks, too! Know why? Because I am _so _winning that bet. Hah, I can't wait to see mini Tawni's face when she loses, hehe!

Oh, hey, I just heard a horn honk outside. I bet that's Lucy now. Well, wish me luck at the dance! I bet it'll be fantastic. Sonny Munroe out!

* * *

**Yes. I'm sure it will be absolutely fantastic, Sonny. Possibly. Maybe. Probably not.**

**Have I ever mentioned that I adore Claire? ;_;**

**Anyway... thank you for reading, and please review! It's almost 100... I already said that, but... still. :D**


	16. September 17th part 2

**Ah, I got 105 reviews! I'm so happy. :'D Thank you so much, you guys! I'm really happy that you all like this story this much! Anywho, because I got past 100 reviews, I tried to make this chapter longer than usual. ^^**

**Some of my high school friends have been such big inspirations for this story, with their ideas for future chapters and whatnot. So I'd like to thank them, too. ;_;**

**Well, I won't keep you from reading any longer. Enjoy!**

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**My room, not sure what time it is because I'm too lazy to check**

Well. That was... something. Definitely something.

Not a very good something, mind you.

I'm not going to blame you this time, though. Once I was done moping around in here, I thought long and hard about it, and I figured, heck, all the signs were there. They've been there for the past year and a half, but I just too dumb to figure it out. I should've expected something like this to happen.

So technically I brought all this on myself. Stupid self. Stupid stupid stupid.

But everything besides what happened last night is still your fault, though, and don't you dare forget it!

Ugh. You don't even know what I'm talking about, do you? I guess I'll explain. 'Course, you'll still have no idea what I'm talking about, because you're a diary, therefore you can't understand anything I write in you... still, though.

Ok. So I last left off with Lucy picking me up, right? Wait a sec while I flip a page back to make sure... yep, I did.

Well, everything started off fine when we were driving along to school. We sang along loudly to Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream' that was playing on the radio, and we talked and laughed about how awesome that night was gonna be and how cool the DJ would be and blah.

Once we actually arrived, I grinned over at Luce and said, "You look awesome!" in that funny voice we use. And she really did look awesome, you know. She was wearing this nice little black and white dress with a yellow sweater that I so envied. Anyway, she just rolled her eyes and replied, "You look awesomer!" We bantered over who looked awesomer all the way through the double doors and into the gym.

Of course, when we got to the gym, we quit talking because our jaws had sagged all the way to the ground.

I swear, the gym didn't even look like the gym anymore. It looked like some hot Hollywood club or something. The back to school dances never look that good. _Ever. _The back to school party commitee really went all out this year. Probably due to the fact that they wanted to impress the local celebrity. Why else would they have hung up all those pretty streamers and balloons and decorated the whole place with glitter and everything?

It's kind of sad how much they want to impress Chad, to be honest, especially because he's really such a jerk and all. Not that I'm complaining, because the incredibleness of the gym made up for their whole sucking up to the celebrity thing.

Right, I'm going to quit ranting and just continue telling you what happened.

Well, after Lucy and I got over the immense shock of seeing the gym all prettied up, I said in fake astonishment, "Well, gee, they didn't have to do all this just for _us_."

Lucy shoved my shoulder playfully. "Oh, get over yourself, Sonny."

I stuck my tongue out at her, then looked around for James. Lucy and I had been one of the first people there, but now the gym was starting to fill up. I didn't see James anywhere among all my chattering classmates that were walking in, though. "Hey, Luce, is your date here?"

Lucy was peering around also, and she nodded, all smiles. "Yeah, he just walked in." Then she excused herself and ran over to go meet her date, Jack Freeman, I think his name is. I've never actually talked to the guy before, since he's not in any of my classes, but he looks like a nice guy, and Lucy seems to like him. So yeah.

Now while I was searching the crowd for my date, a random girl beside me squealed and pointed at the doorway, which caused everyone to shut up and turn their heads toward what she was pointing at. Or, should I say, _who_ she was pointing at.

Guess who it was?

His name starts with a C. And a D. And then another C.

Yep. Chad.

Oh, and guess who was clinging to his shoulder and waving at everyone as though she were the queen of England or something? Tawni. I don't even know why I was so surprised. I mean, obviously Tawni would be Chad's date. Popular blonde people always go with each other to dances. It's, like, a law. You know, something like, uh... _Thou blonde beings shalt always go with thy fellow blondes to school shindigs. _

Ok, maybe it's not a law, but I bet you anything it will be in about five years.

My point is, I should've totally expected that. But for some reason, I was surprised that they were together. And, for some other weird reason, kind of annoyed. I don't even know why. I'm still trying to figure it out.

Anywho, my point is that when I saw them together, I choked on the chips I was eating.

Meanwhile, the majority of everyone else had started to clap and cheer for Chad and Tawni's dramatic little entrance, which thankfully masked the sound of my hacking as I tried to cough the chips back up. Then, because everyone was supposed to be treating Chad like an average person instead of a celebrity, they resumed their chatter, with the exception of a few girls who gawking at the back of Chad's head.

Once I was done hacking up the chips, I wiped my mouth and proceeded to hide behind a plump sophomore dude I don't know. Because I didn't want Chad or Tawni to see me. Then Chad would've probably come over and mocked me about my date not being here yet, and Tawni would've started blabbing about how she was always right and pretty, and then I'd never hear the end of it. Therefore I hid like the coward that I am.

Then the sophomore dude moved, and Lucy ran up to me yelling unneccessarily loudly, "Hey, Sonny, come meet Jack!"

So naturally Chad's head turned, and his gaze met mine. Oh, and that annoying smirk appeared on his face. I had a sudden desire to go throw myself out a window, especially when he said something to Tawni and nodded in my direction. "Uh, sure, let's go meet him, Luce," I said quickly and turned, but I wasn't fast enough. I froze in my position when Chad's voice said behind me, "Hey, Munroe, where's your date?"

Lucy glanced at Chad, then backed away slowly. "Or maybe you can meet him later." I silently begged Lucy not to abandon me with these snobby people, but she just gave me an apologetic look and disappeared into the throng of highschoolers, leaving me with Tawni and Chad on either side of me. Great.

I cautiously turned back around to look at them. Chad was still smirking, and Tawni was frowning. Nothing new there. "He's late, I think."

Tawni muttered something under her breath. I think she said, "Yeah, right." I glared at her, and she raised an eyebrow at me. "Don't look at me like that, Allison. It's not my fault you're a total idiot that can't see what's right in front of you."

"Uh, you're right in front of me, and I sure can see you," I retorted, even though I knew that's not what she'd meant.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever. Anyway, I'm going to come over to your house tomorrow to work on our little project. So make your house a bit more presentable, honey."

Presentable? What the heck? "Now listen - " I started to say, all set to give her a piece of my mind for trying to tell me what to do, but Chad interrupted with the randomest question ever. "So who's your date, anyway?"

Both Tawni and I looked over at him in confusion, and he shrugged. "It's not a crime to ask."

Tawni made a 'tsk' noise. "Does it matter?"

"No. But I'm curious." He frowned at me.

I rolled my eyes. "James Conroy. You happy now?"

"No. Who is he?"

"Are you freaking deaf? I just told you!"

"Chaddd," Tawni whined, tugging on his arm. "Don't you want to dance with me?"

Chad ignored her and just stared at me expectantly, like he wanted a more detailed answer. I glared at him for a second, then told Tawni curtly, "Sure, you can come to my house."

"Fine," Tawni scoffed.

"Fine," Chad added randomly.

"Oh, are you two seriously doing this?" I groaned, shooting them both exasperated looks before turning and stalking off. Behind me, Chad yelled, "You didn't answer my question, Munroe!" Naturally, I ignored him.

At first I thought maybe I'd be done with them and that they'd leave me alone for the rest of the night. But later on, while I was pigging out at the refreshment table (again), someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned around to face Tawni. She had her arms crossed and was looking smug. "James is still a no show, huh?"

I swallowed my bite of cheddar cheese and sighed. "Tawni, I'm sure he's got a really good reason for being late. Can't you just leave me alone and dance with Chad or something?"

Tawni shook her head. "No. Chad's talking with the DJ about performing an original song of his later on."

"Sure. Like I care," I scoffed.

"And just so you know, James is a jerk," she went on.

"He is not a jerk!"

She scoffed. "Right. And maybe I'm ugly. Use your brain!" She tapped her forehead as she said this. "Really, Allison, you should listen to me. Unlike you, I actually get out a lot, so I know these things. How much exactly do you know about James, anyway?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Because I actually don't know much about him, to be honest, besides the fact that he's got a kind of bad boy attitude and is really smooth and likes pie. That's pretty much it.

"My point exactly," Tawni said, looking smug again.

"Give it a rest, Tawn," I said, shaking my head in annoyance. "I know you're lying to me. It's what you do. And I thought you said you were going to drop the subject?"

"Well, my horoscope said I was going to do a good deed for a person I hate," she replied coolly. "So I'm just doing what it told me to do."

Exasperated, I started to walk away, but Tawni said, "Wait." I paused and glanced over my shoulder at her, and she said earnestly, "You can believe me or not, but if he asks you to go somewhere, don't follow him. I'm being serious."

I really did think she was just trying to pull something on me, I honestly did. She's done stuff like this before, anyway. "Sure, you are. Just like you were being serious that one time when you told me there was a fire in the cafeteria," I said sarcastically.

Tawni frowned. "And then you called 911," she said thoughtfully. "I can't believe you were stupid enough to fall for that."

"Bye, Tawni," I said curtly, then I walked off. Thinking back on it, I should've taken her advice to heart. But I didn't. So, as I said before, the whole thing was basically my fault.

Anyway, for most of the night I sort of just danced with a few girls in my class. Lucy said I could come dance with her and Jack, but I didn't want to butt in to whatever romantic moments they were having. And when I wasn't dancing, I was either eating cheese and chips or just sitting off to the side bobbing my head along to the music.

About twenty five minutes later, while I was drinking some coke on the bleachers, the DJ cut off the Beyonce song that was playing and said into his mic, "Y'all are in for a real treat tonight! Give it up for the one, the only, Chad Dylan Cooper!"

Among all the whooping, whistling people, I think I was the only one that groaned and banged my head against the wall.

Chad grabbed the microphone from the DJ and said in that cocky voice of his, "Where're my Mack fans at?" More cheers. Ugh. Chad grinned, then said, "This one's for you!"

Then, I swear, he looked right at me. Right. At. Me. How could he even see me from way over there? Ok, so maybe he wasn't actually looking at _me. _But it seemed like it. I probably imagined it, though...

Well, then Chad started to sing. He's actually a really good singer. No surprise there. The guy's already got perfect looks, so why don't we just add his voice to the list of his spectacular qualities? Besides his personality, which isn't very spectacular, since he's a jerk and all.

So while Chad was singing this pretty catchy song about hanging on for someone or something, I attempted to tune out his voice and instead amused myself by trying to spot certain people in the crowd. It was kind of like a huge search and find game.

That's when I saw James.

I hopped off the bleachers and pushed past a couple of people to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, and they weren't. It was definitely James. And he was with some other girl I vaguely recognized as a senior at our school. It kind of looked like he was whispering something in her ear, while she just giggled at whatever it was he was saying. (You'd think seeing that would've set off the alarm bells in my head. But it didn't, because I'm stupid.)

I figured it was time to make my presence known. Stepping forward, I cleared my throat over the sound of Chad's singing and tapped James's shoulder. He whirled around, looked a tiny bit surprised for a second, then smiled. "Oh, hey, Sonny. I was looking for you."

I glanced at the giggling senior girl. "Really?"

He nodded. I frowned, feeling a tad doubtful. I mean, that was pretty hard to believe, considering I'd been looking for _him _for the past hour and hadn't seen him anywhere. Where had he been? Had he been with that girl this whole time?

I forced out a smile. "Well, you found me. Wanna dance?"

James tossed his head and made a face. "Not to this song. That drama idiot's voice makes me sick."

The second he insulted Chad and his singing, all my doubts disappeared. Heck, someone who didn't worship the ground Chad walked on couldn't be as bad as Tawni made James out to be. Right? Well, that's what I thought, anyway.

I gave him a real smile. "His song's probably going to end soon, though."

James glanced at the senior girl, and I noticed her give him a wink before strutting off. Confused, I turned my gaze back to James. "Who was that?"

He didn't answer my question and instead grabbed my hand. "I want to show you something."

"Ok," I said happily. "What do you want to show me?"

"Not here," he said. He had to raise his voice so I could hear him over the sound of all the clapping as Chad's Hanging song came to an end. "Somewhere a bit more private. I have a surprise for you." He gave me that bad boy-ish grin I've always liked.

But his smile didn't give me the butterflies like it used to. Instead, I was remembering what Tawni had warned me about. Hesitantly, I said, "Are you sure you can't show me here?"

"Oh, come on," he said in a pursuasive tone. "You'll like it. Trust me."

I was still a bit uncertain, but then I happened to actually spot Tawni out of the corner of my eye. She was watching us, and when I glanced at her, she gave me a tiny, imperceptible shake of her head, like she was telling me not to do what he was asking. And suddenly I felt defiant. Heck, I could do what I wanted! Tawni had no control over me like she did with the rest of the school, and I wasn't going to let her start bossing me around now! (That's what I was thinking at that moment.)

"All right, let's go," I agreed, smiling at him (stupid stupid stupid). He grinned and led me out of the gym and through the doors that connected to the school hallway. I could feel Tawni's eyes boring holes in the back of my head. Ok, not really, but you know what I mean.

So he led me down the deserted school hallway until the sound of the music in the gym had pretty much faded away, then stopped next to one of the lockers and turned to face me. It was dark in there because the lights weren't on, so I couldn't see his expression too well. I could see his silhouette, though.

Anyway, I glanced around, then asked, "So... what's the surprise? Is it in one of the lockers? Oh my gosh, is it a kitten?" A brightened at the idea of a kitten. Kittens are so cute!

James chuckled. "No, it's better than that."

"Oh," I said, a tiny bit disappointed. "Well, is it a - ?" I didn't get to finish my question, because the next thing I knew his lips were on mine. Didn't see that one coming, did you?

Well, maybe you did, but I certainly didn't.

So... I'm not really sure how to describe that kiss. I mean, it was pretty much my first kiss, I can tell you that much. I've never been kissed by a boy until then, so... well, I don't really know how to describe it. It was nice, I guess. At first. It's funny, though, because I always thought my first kiss would be a lot more... I dunno. Better, I guess. Like, my eyes were open the whole time. That's not supposed to happen, right?

Like I said, it was ok at first. But then he kind of pinned me against a locker and gripped my arms harder, all the while still kissing me, and I thought, _Ok, that's enough for today. _I pushed him away. "Um, James? I don't really want to do this anymore."

He chuckled again, though this time it was a kind of dark chuckle, and it sort of creeped me out. "Really, now?" Then he started to kiss me again, and this time I noticed that something felt really off. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it just did.

Of course, me being my stupid self, I still didn't get it. "James," I said, attempting to jerk away from him. "Stop it. You're hurting me."

His response literally made my heart quit working for a second, and not in the good way. "You know you like it, whore." Uh. WHAT? Whore? WHAT?

Finally the alarm bells in my head started to go off. "No, no I don't," I said quickly, struggling to get out of his viselike grip on my hands. It was totally pointless, though. "Let go of me, James!" I yelled at him, my voice sounding a lot higher pitched in my nervousness.

He didn't answer. But I did feel him fiddle with the buttons on my dress. Oh, dear God.

So I screamed. It was the only thing I could think of to do. I guess that was pointless, too, though, because it wasn't like anyone in the gym could hear me over the music. Anyway, James put his hand over my mouth and hissed, "Shut up!"

Then I bit down on his hand, which tasted really gross. But hey, I was trying to protect my virginity here! James yelped, but still didn't let go of me. My eyes were adjusting to the dim light, and I could see that now he just looked incredibly angry. Bummer.

I don't know what would've happened next if we hadn't been interrupted. I don't really want to think about it, to be honest.

But all of a sudden, I heard a door slam down the hallway, and then a voice called, "Hey, Sonny? Where are you? Tawni told me I should come check on you, so..." The voice trailed off. I turned my head to see Chad standing there, gawking at James and me.

I have never been so happy to see that drama snob in my entire life. "Chad!" I gasped.

"What...?" Chad took in the scene, looking a bit stunned.

"Hey, pretty boy," James snapped, facing Chad. "Get out of here. This is none of your business."

Chad's expression hardened. "Everything is my business. What're you doing to Sonny?"

"What's it to you?" James sneered. I honestly don't know how I used to find that guy attractive.

"Get your hands off her!" Chad yelled, glaring at James and looking madder than I've ever seen him.

"I don't take orders from stupid celebrities!" While James was distracted with arguing with Chad, I managed to wrench my hand out of his and stomped as hard as I could on his foot. He yelled in surprise and backed away, giving me the chance I needed to run over to Chad's side. Chad glanced at me, then continued glaring at James. "Don't you dare touch Sonny again," he said in a cold, hard voice.

Now I was very grateful to Chad for coming and saving me, but I have to wonder... why did he care? Why was he helping me? He hates me, right? Maybe his horoscope said he had to do a good deed for a person he hated, like Tawni's did. I dunno. Speaking of which, Tawni asked him to come check on me?

Needless to say, I was so, so confused. About everything.

"Sure. No problem," James spat. "That whore isn't worth my time anyway." There he went with the name calling again. Seriously?

I think Chad almost ran at James to punch him or something, but I grabbed his sleeve and whispered, "Chad, don't." Miraculously, he stopped. Meanwhile, James huffed and limped past us, back into the gym.

When he was gone, Chad automatically turned to me, grabbed my shoulder with one hand, and brushed my bangs out of my eyes with another. "Sonny, are you all right? Did he hurt you? Oh my God, he didn't do anything to you, did he?" he babbled, something kind of like worry lacing his voice.

I shook my head numbly, feeling tears start to come into my eyes. I don't know why he was so worried about me, but his concern combined with the whole thing James had just tried to do to me really upset me. I mean, it was bad enough that Chad had to see that happen. But what was worse was that I could've kept this whole scene from playing out, if I'd just listened to Tawni. But no, I had to go and be and idiot. (Of course, you can't blame me for not listening to Tawni, because she rarely tells the truth, but still)

So, for those reasons and a bunch of other reasons that don't really make much sense, I found myself starting to tear up. That was not something Chad needed to see. "I have to go," I said abruptly, avoiding Chad's gaze and pushing past him, attempting to quickly walk out of there with what little dignity I had left.

"Sonny - " Chad started to say behind me.

I whirled around with tears now pouring freely down my cheeks (how embarassing) and said, "Chad, just leave me alone! I don't... I can't..." For some reason I couldn't voice my thoughts into words, though, so instead I just sobbed, turned, and ran out of there.

I ran blindly through the gym, the tears in my eyes making everything look blurry. I think I ran past Lucy, because I distinctly heard her voice say off to the side, "Sonny, what's wrong?" But I didn't answer her. Instead, I just made my way to the front doors, avoiding everyone, and barged out of the school grounds. Then I took off my heels and ran barefoot all the way home.

Yep.

Ho hum.

This was certainly a depressing night. Especially because I just spent most of the rest of my night locked in my room and crying my eyes out. Pathetic. I really hope Mom isn't too worried about me, because she looked really concerned when I ran in sobbing. I guess I'll have to tell what happened tomorrow morning.

Really, though, I should've listened to Tawni, or at least kept what she said in mind. But I didn't. How stupid and idiotic can I get? I'm such an utter failure. Really. I bet I get an F- in the test of life. That's how much of a failure I am.

At least now I know the truth about James. He really is a jerk. Maybe even a bigger jerk than Chad, if that's possible. You know, I'm starting to think he was involved with that giggling senior girl he'd been talking to earlier.

I wonder how Tawni knew that James was like this?

...Oh my gosh. What do you think Chad thinks of me after this? Do you think he thinks I'm a whore now, too? Oh, no. He probably does. And I bet James is going to go tell everyone about this. So the whole school is going to think I'm a whore.

MY LIFE IS OVER BECAUSE OF MY STUPIDITY.

This is what I get for wanting an interesting life. I'm sorry! I take it back! I want my old boring life again! Or at least my lucky socks! I really need some luck right about now...

Sigh. I feel upset again. And my hand is awfully tired from writing the tales of my idiocy down. I'm going to bed. As Scarlett O' Hara once said, tomorrow is another day.

Yeah. But it'll probably be a terrible day.

I'm sure you're tired of listening to my extremely optimistic comments (note my sarcasm). So goodnight, Diary.

* * *

**Poor Sonny. You aren't stupid! Just naive-ish...**

**Yes, James is much more of a jerk in the alternate universe of SWAC. Pfft. I hate him here.**

**By the way, if you don't know who Scarlett O' Hara is, she's the main character in _Gone with the Wind_. The movie has to be my favorite movie ever. I grew up watching that movie, and it's amazing. So I couldn't help adding something about her here. **

**Things will start to look up a bit in the next chapter!**

**Ok, so... that's all I have to say, really. Review, please! :D**


	17. September 18th

**Oh my gosh, guys, I'm so sorry this took so long to write ;_; It's been crazy lately. But thank you for being so patient!**

**Now, without further adieu (or however you spell it), here's the next MSLS chapter!**

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September 18th

**My room, in my bed, 8:00 A.M.**

_Dear Diary,_

I had the weirdest dream last night. In my dream (or nightmare, I guess it should be called), I was on the Mackenzie Falls set. I was standing in front of one of the backdrops they always use on the show and reading from a (lousy) script, while this camera filmed everything live. Yeah, and then this guy in a suit appeared out of nowhere going, "You'll never take me alive!" And then he smacked me in the face, and I realized that the guy was James.

I freaked out, turned to run away from James, and saw Chad standing off to the side staring at me, and for some stupid reason I found myself running over to him and throwing my arms around him. Then James appeared over Chad's shoulder and grinned at me like he was some kind of creepy creeper, so I screamed and jumped away. Then Chad yelled dramatically, "I'll protect you, m'lady!" and plopped a sombrero onto my head. What the heck?

Oh, it gets worse. Because the minute he put the sombrero on my head, all my clothes went POOF! Vanished! The only thing I was wearing was a dumb hat! What in the world is wrong with my imagination?

So I tried to take the hat off, but it wouldn't budge, and then I turned and ran. And all around me, I saw clones of a bunch of people I know. Like, there were about a dozen Tawnis and Lucys and Claires and Chads and a whole bunch more, and they were all pointing and laughing at me, while the camera still filmed the entire thing. And then all of a sudden the ground caved underneath me, and I was falling...

...which is when I woke up, on the floor, tangled up in my sheets and screaming my head off. Luckily, my mother's a deep sleeper and didn't hear me. She could probably still sleep if a meteor crashed into our house. (Or a meteorite? I don't know, Diary, I always get confused between those two)

Now from a person who didn't experience that, that dream might seem kind of amusing, but I swear it wasn't funny at all! It was TERRIFYING.

Do you think it means something?

Oh, probably not, it was just some stupid dream...

But what if it _does _mean something? What if it means that I'm going to get morebad luck?

NO! WHY?

**Still in my room, 8:07 A.M.**

I just got off the phone with Lucy. I called her and told her all about my dream, then asked her what she thought it meant.

She told me that she thought it meant I had a really weird imagination.

Which is true. But that's not what I meant.

But before I could ask the question again, she started asking me about what happened last night, and why I'd run out of there crying, and if something had happened with James and such. I really just couldn't bring myself to talk about it over the phone, so after quietly listening to her worried voice I hung up on her.

I'm such a bad friend.

But I really don't even want to tell her what happened and have to relive that horrible night. Ugh.

Oh, great, now I'm getting a text. I hope it's not from Lucy.

...

It's from... Chad?

**Still here, 8:23 A.M.**

Here's the entire text conversation I just had with Chad (the underlined words are what I wrote, and the stuff in pen is what Chad wrote):

**R u ok?**

How'd U get my nmbr?

**I asked 1st**

I'm fine

**Liar**

I'm serious!

**R U Sonny? R U rlly?**

:C Y do U care, N E way?

**I don't**

Sure U dn't

**BTW, U have 2 bbysit Claire 2day**

I nu that (that's a lie, I totally forgot)

**Good**

Good!

**Fine**

At this point I quit texting him, because he was kind of getting on my nerves. And I didn't want to get a huge phone bill for some pointless 'Fine' 'Fine' 'Good' 'Good' chat. Stupid Chad.

...I'm 35 percent positive that he cares.

I think.

Sigh. Well, I guess I better go over to their house so I can babysit the mini Tawni. Joy.

I'll fill you in on what happened once the day is over, and I've got some free time. _Please_ give me some luck this time, Diary. I'm begging you. And I don't usually beg to inanimate objects, just so you know.

Speaking of which, I should probably be getting dressed instead of writing in you...

Note to self: Find out how Chad got my flipping number.

**At home, 7:30 P.M.**

Oh my God.

Tawni Hart... has a heart.

Hehe. Hart. Heart.

In all seriousness, though... I can't believe it. I mean, she's always seemed so bitter and mean (especially towards me, but not so much as of late, for some weird reason), but today I actually caught a glimpse of the _real _Tawni Hart, not that, er, bitchy Tawni I've grown used to. Sorry about the cuss, I couldn't really think of a better word to describe the Queen Bee. And I totally thought I had Tawni all figured out. Guess I was wrong.

...Well, heck. I'm not making much sense. I'll start from the beginning. Let's see... oh, yeah, I was on my way to go babysit Claire.

So after leaving Mom a note on the kitchen table that I was going over to the Coopers, I trudged off through the damp grass over to the house next door. It was pretty chilly this morning. Not a big surprise, since this is Wisconsin, but... well, it's been awfully warm for the past few days, which has been a weird but nice change. Anywho, I made my way up to their front door. Chad opened the door on the first knock.

He looked so obnoxiously hot (as usual) that for a second I wanted to go hide somewhere where he couldn't see my messy, badly brushed hair and my Winnie the Pooh shirt. Thankfully that second passed very quickly.

"Hey," he said first, peering at me with those ocean blue eyes of his.

I rubbed my shoulder awkwardly and attempted to smile. "Hi."

He didn't move to let me past, which I think was kinda rude of him, seeing as it was freaking cold outside. After a moment, he said casually, "So that was some party last night."

I flinched. As stupid as it sounds, I felt like he'd just slapped me. "Chad, I really don't want to talk about it," I said more harshly than I intended.

His eyes flashed. "Yeah, well, I do. Sonny, that guy was trying to - "

"You think I don't know that?" I interrupted, glaring at him. "Look, I'm really grateful that you helped me and all, but just drop it. Please."

He didn't say anything at first, just glared at me. "Are you ok?"

"You already asked me that," I huffed.

"You didn't answer my question," he snapped back.

"I'm fine," I retorted, even though I really wasn't. But I certainly didn't need him pestering me anymore.

Chad opened his mouth to say something else, but just then his mom walked outside, totally oblivious to the tension in the air, and said cheerfully, "Come on, Chad, don't want to be late for the first official day of filming! Oh, hello, Sonny." She smiled at me, then frowned at Chad. "Why are you making her stand out in the cold? I thought I raised you better than that," she admonished him.

"Sorry," Chad grumbled, moving aside to allow me to step past him. I tried to smirk at him as I walked inside (I almost burst into happy tears at how warm it was in there), but it came out more like a grimace, I think.

"Claire's eating a snack in the kitchen," Mrs. Cooper said brightly as she walked off towards her car. "If there's any trouble, don't hesitate to call!"

"Bye, Mrs. Cooper," I said warmly, giving her a real smile. Then I narrowed my eyes at her son. "Chad," I said curtly.

"Sonny," was his cold reply. Then he turned his back on me and followed his mom. I watched him go for a minute, not exactly sure why I felt more depressed than ever all of a sudden. Then I closed the door.

"Oh, jeez!" I yelped when I turned around to see Claire staring up at me with a really angry expression on her face. I swear, she looked like she'd just come out of a horror movie. Ugh. I hate horror movies. They scare me so badly. Which I guess is kind of the point, actually... but still.

"Claire, you almost gave me a heart attack," I managed to say once my heartbeat had slowed. "I thought you were in the kitchen?"

"I was," she said, folding her arms in front of her and giving me the death stare. "Until I heard you. You know your voice is obnoxiously loud, right?"

I ignored that and put on a fake smile. "So, Claire, do you have any board games here? I was thinking we could - "

"What'd you do to my big brother?" she practically growled. I didn't know ten year olds could growl. WTH?

I scoffed. "I didn't do anything to your brother, and trust me, I wouldn't want to."

"Wanna bet?"

I sighed. "Please don't do this with me right now. I had a bad day yesterday."

She frowned suspiciously at me. "Is that why Chad was so upset when he came home last night?"

Ok, now I was interested in what she had to say. "Huh?"

"You heard me," she said, sounding accusing, even though I totally did not do anything wrong. "I know something happened with you two. He wouldn't tell me what was bugging him, but I know Chad, and you were obviously what was on his mind. So spill."

"Huh?" I repeated very intelligently.

Her frown deepened. "Are you in honors class or collegebound?" she asked randomly.

"Uh... honors?"

She shook her head. "And you're supposed to be smart? Good grief. Ok, so lemme try and figure this out on my own. I'm guessing there was some other guy involved, right?"

I frowned. "Claire, don't butt into my personal life."

She widened her eyes innocently. "I'm not!"

"Sure you're not."

Suddenly she grinned. "So I'm right?"

I facepalmed, and she jumped up and down giddily. Man, her mood swings really fast. "Aha, I knew it! The first lover's spat! I'm so winning this bet."

I almost choked on my own saliva. "_Lover's _spat? You kidding me?"

"Face it, Sonny, you're crushing on Chad," she said smugly. "Come on, just admit it. If you do, I'll get my money faster, and the world will run smoothly again."

I snorted. "I'll admit this: You. Are. Delusional."

She shrugged. "Fine, deny it. But you'll see. Claire Delilah Cooper is always right about this sort of stuff."

Ok, so both the Cooper kids are self-centered, obnoxious, and refer to themselves in third person. Great. So glad I get to live next to them. Not.

Though strangely enough, talking with Claire actually made me feel a lot better. Weird, but true.

"I'm gonna change the subject now," I said brightly. "As I was saying, how about we go play some board games or something?"

She eyed me dubiously for a second, then sighed in resignation. "Oh, all right. That doesn't mean I like you, though. I still dislike you as much as ever."

"Cool with me," I said agreeably, which made her smile. So for the next hour, we played Monopoly, which is apparently the Coopers favorite game (big surprise), and while we played we ate cotton candy flavored ice cream. Spending time with Claire was actually nice. You know, when she wasn't being bratty.

But all good things come to an end, apparently.

When my phone started to moo at me insistently, I excused myself from the game for a second and answered without checking the caller ID. "Hello?"

I had to hold my phone away from my ear a bit as Tawni's voice yelled at me, "Allison, where the hell are you?"

"Huh? Tawni?" I asked. "Why are you calling me?"

"Me. You. Science project. Ring any bells yet?" she said sarcastically.

I gasped. "Darn it, I forgot about that!"

"Really? I so didn't notice."

"Cut it out, Tawn." I hesitated for a second, then added, "Hang on a sec." I ignored Tawni as she let out a string of cuss words I'd be terrified to say and glanced over at Claire. "Hey, Claire, would you mind if a, uh, aquaintance of mind dropped by?"

"I guess not," she said distractedly, totally absorbed in counting her Monopoly money.

I returned my attention back to my phone. "Where are you right now, Tawni?"

"I'm outside your house," she said, sounding aggravated.

"Ok, well, I'm at Chad's house babysitting his sister, so you can just come over here, if you want."

There was a short pause, and then I suddenly got a dialtone, which I guessed meant that Tawni was coming.

Sure enough, there was a loud knock on the door a bit later. I hopped up and went to answer the door.

"God, finally. I can't believe you didn't even - " She stopped short and stared at me. "Holy crap, Allison, you look even worse than usual."

"Gee, thanks," I responded, moving aside to let her pass. She stepped in, took off her coat, and draped it on the couch, then looked around. "So this is what the inside of Chad Dylan Cooper's house looks like." She scoffed. "I can't believe they chose to live next to someone like you."

I sighed. "Project, remember?"

She frowned at me. "Hmph. Yeah, ok."

That was when Claire chose that moment to poke her head into the hallway. "Hey, Sonny, are we gonna finish the game? You're about to go bankrupt, I think." Then she saw Tawni and sort of straightened up a bit. "This is your aquaintance?"

"I'm Tawni Hart," Tawni said snobbishly before I could answer. "Who are _you_?"

"_I _am Chad Dylan Cooper's sister," Claire shot back, looking offended at Tawni's tone.

Oh, man. Tawni and mini Tawni in the same room was not something I'd ever wanted to happen. It was like another terrible nightmare, except that this one was actually happening. "Ok, this was a nice meeting! Claire, how about you go watch Mackenzie Falls in the living room?"

She didn't need to be told twice. With a last glare at Tawni, she stalked back into the living room. I sighed, glad I'd avoided a near disaster, and gestured to Tawni. "Come on, we can go talk about our project in the kitchen."

Tawni nodded and followed behind me as I led the way into the kitchen. As Tawni perched on top of a stool, I made my way over to the fridge, chattering away to fill Tawni's sudden silence. "So how's your day been so far? Mine was pretty good. I got bankrupt in Monopoly twice, but that's ok, I mean, I've never been really good at Monopoly, I personally prefer Mousetrap or something. Oh, do you want some ice cream, there's tons of flavors in the fridge..." I trailed off when I realized Tawni was watching me intently. "What?"

She looked like she was bursting to say something, and there was a burning curiosity in her gaze. "So I was wondering," she finally said. "What happened yesterday?"

I slumped. "Not you, too. I don't want to talk about it."

"He tried to do it to you, didn't he?" she asked gravely.

I froze. "It?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know. _It,_" she said, putting emphasis on the word.

"H-How'd you know that?" I stuttered.

She didn't answer. Another thought occured to me, something I'd been wondering for days but had sort of dismissed for a while. "Wait a second. You knew all the time, didn't you? You knew James was bad."

"I warned you," she said flatly. "But you didn't listen."

I studied her and intuitively knew that I was about to press on a toucy subject. But I couldn't help it, I was dying to know. "Tawni, how did you know?" I asked softly.

Tawni pressed her hands together and closed her eyes, furrowing her brow like she was thinking. When she opened her eyes again, she looked resigned. "I dated James."

I raised an eyebrow. "No, you didn't."

She shook her head. "It was secret. No one at school knew." She sighed. "I met him when I first moved here. I went to one of the stupid cheese festivals here and bumped into him. He won me a stuffed cat in a game. I named it Puddy Two Shoes." She smiled at the memory. "A few weeks later, we started going out."

She said nothing more, just looked down at the table, and finally I asked in a hushed voice, "What happened?"

She shrugged. "Well, it was fine for a while. I was happy with him." Her voice suddenly hardened, and she frowned at me. "Look, James only wants one thing from a girl. If you give it to him, you're gonna get dumped. If you don't give it to him, you'll still get dumped. Either way you end up boyfriendless."

"Did you give it to him?"

Tawni looked surprised by my question, and then she smiled sadly. "I almost did. But I didn't. So he broke up with me. A few days later, I found out about his other girlfriends." She rested her elbows on the table and gazed at the sink faucet.

That's when I realized there was a lot more to Tawni than I thought there was. Now that she actually opened up to me, anyway. I kinda feel like I understand her way more now. Not completely, because her snobby ways still continue to baffle me, but a bit more than before.

There was one more thing I was wondering, though. "Why did you try to warn me? You hate me."

She laughed. "That's true." Then she became serious again. "I don't know, really. I guess because you're so annoyingly innocent. It would've been a shame to see that ruined."

I smiled. "Well, thanks, Tawni. I appreciate it."

"Of course you do." And with that, the slightly vulnerable Tawni was gone, and the normal Tawni Hart was back. I was almost relieved. Almost.

I tapped my finger on the table. "You know, someone should really give James a lesson one day. I mean, he can't just go on doing what he does without being punished. It's totally unfair."

Tawni stared at me. "Allison, you just had a good idea."

Needless to say, I was completely taken aback. "I did?"

"Yes!" Tawni looked excited now. "We need to give James a taste of his own medicine! Because if we don't do it, who will?"

I grinned as I realized what she was suggesting. "Go on."

Tawni chewed her lip thoughtfully. "What we need to do is find a way to publicly humiliate him, so that he'll think twice about messing with girls."

"That's brilliant!" I said eagerly, laughing and raising my hand to give Tawni a high five. I had to awkwardly lower my hand though when she just gave me a blank look. I guess she doesn't know how to high five. Weird.

"I'll think about what we can do to get back at James and call you when I have any ideas," Tawni said in a rush, picking up her bag and getting to her feet. "You do the same."

"Hey, wait, what about our project?" I yelled, rushing after her as she ran out of the room (how she could run with those stiletto heels is something I'll never understand).

Tawni made a shoo-ing motion with her hand. "Oh, Allison, we've got three more weeks to do that. Don't be such a worrywart." She opened the door and started to leave, then paused and glanced over her shoulder at me. "Just because we're working together on this doesn't mean I'm going to be nice to you at school."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Tawni," I said, beaming.

She shook her head. "I swear, you're way too perky. Ciao, Allison!" And with that she was gone.

So yeah. That was basically my whole day. I mean, there was more, but it's pretty late, and my hand's getting tired, so... yep.

Besides, the rest of my day wasn't that interesting. I just babysat Claire for a few more hours, avoided talking to Chad when he and his mom came back, and then went back home to accompany my mom to Goodwill and then go to church.

Fairly good day, I guess. You know, I think I am getting somewhere with Tawni, and mini Tawni, too. Dunno about Chad, though. It seemed like we sorta were, but now it feels like we're right back to where we started. Sigh.

Aw, dang it! I forgot to find out how Chad got my number!

Eh. Guess I'll figure it out later.

Good night, Diary. Wish me luck tomorrow!

P.S. I'll think of a name for you soon, I promise.

P.P.S. Oh, no, I have an Algebra III quiz tomorrow! And I totally forgot to study. Excuse me while I go die.

* * *

**The text message part of this was hard for me to write. xD It killed me to purposefully write like that. Oh, well.**

**So, any thoughts on this chapter? What do you think Tawni and Sonny are going to do to get back at James? And how's all of this going to affect Sonny and Chad? Hmmm...**

**I hope you liked it! And again, sorry for the wait. **

**Please review! Reviews are greatly appreciated. C:**


	18. September 19th

**Hey, guys! Guess what? I got contacts! I can see now. :'D Yay!**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

September 19th

**Home, 5:30 A.M.**

_Dear Diary,_

Woke up early so I could cram for my algebra test today. It's not working. Like, my mind is so cluttered that I can't concentrate on any of this stuff. Gaaah, I'm gonna get a big fat F on this test today!

Where are my lucky socks when I need them?

**5:40 A.M.**

I've been staring at the same problem for ten minutes and still can't figure it out.

Sigh.

But seeing as I'm up so early anyway, I think I'll take this opportunity to go search up a name for you! (Yeah, I know, I'm going to go look for names for an inanimate object when I should be studying for a big test. I fail at life)

**6:23 A.M.**

Diary, I think I've finally found a fantastic name for you!

Ok, so I was looking through a bunch of baby names, but all of them seemed so ordinary, and I wanted your name to be special and symbolic and stuff. So I started looking up words in other languages, and I came up with something epic!

Your name is...

(insert epic drumroll of awesomesauce here)

Siri Sol! (or Siri for short)

Yeah! I'm not one to brag, but... isn't it GREAT?

See, Siri means 'secret' in Swahili, and Sol means 'sun' or 'sunshine' in Spanish (yeah, two completely different languages, I know, but whatever). So if you put the two together, it's like I'm saying you're my secret sunshine! Get it?

Genius!

I feel so smarticle now.

Now if only I were smarticle enough to figure out this stupid algebra...

**6:30 A.M.**

I give up.

**6:38 A.M.**

Well, here I go. Off to school. To fail. Oh, joy.

**At the park, 3:30-ish P.M. (according to my watch it's 11:20, but that's only because I accidentally broke it today, so... yeah)**

Hey Dia - I mean, Siri! Wow, this name change is gonna take some getting used to. Anyway.

I'm not really sure why I'm at the park. Just because it's a relaxing place to think, I suppose. Which is something I need to do. Think, I mean. And the park's not too far a walk from my house, and I'm really tired at being stuck at home doing homework and blah all the time. So, hey, it was only a matter of time before I came here to chill.

And... that kid sitting on the bench across from me is picking his nose. Strangely enough, that doesn't perk up my mood too much.

So. Guess I should fill you in.

First off, I'm 89% sure I flunked that test. I'm praying to God that I didn't, but with my luck at the moment, I bet I did. Mom's gonna kill me when she finds out. Or worse.

All right, now that I've got that established, I'll backtrack and start from the beginning of my day.

After standing by the front door and trying to quietly hyperventilate over my upcoming test without Mom seeing me (cool as a cucumber, that's me, all right), I finally worked up the nerve to step out the door and walk off towards school. And my impending doom.

I was so focused on giving myself a small pep talk to boost my confidence that I didn't even notice when the sleek convertible came up beside me. I continued to be totally oblivious until I heard somebody clear their throat, and looked to my right to see Chad's face peering out at me through the window. For some reason I was only half-surprised by this. I guess I was used to that drama snob popping out of nowhere by now. "What do you want, Chad?" I asked resignedly.

He raised his eyebrow at me. "Good morning to you, too."

I bit back a sharp retort and instead bowed my head to look at my boots. "Morning," I finally muttered.

I think Chad might have frowned. "Well?"

I glanced up at him. "Well what?"

"Aren't you going to get in?" he asked. When I just gave him a blank stare, he made an exasperated noise and said, "Oh, come on, Sonny, don't tell me you forgot. I said I'd drive you to school as soon as you weren't sick. Remember that, or do you need me to help you jog your memory?"

Oh, yeah. I actually had forgotten about that, to be honest, what with everything that was going on. Still, while I ride in a nice convertible would be nice (it was seriously cold and my hands were freezing, because I'd stupidly forgotten my gloves), I didn't really want to sit through a ride with Chad, even it was only ten minutes long. I mean, that would be pretty awkward, considering how I'd treated him yesterday. I felt kind of bad about now, because after reflecting on the whole thing, he'd seemed pretty concerned. Hmm.

I rubbed my hands together in a feeble attempt to warm them up. "I remember. But it's ok, Chad, you don't have to. I mean, I doubt you'd want to spend more time with me than you need to, after..." I trailed off, unable to finish saying 'after what happened at the party'. But I think Chad understood. For a second his expression hardened, but that second passed quickly. "Sonny, I promised I'd drive you. And Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't break his promises." He looked thoughtful. "Well, unless I promise someone that I'll go on a blind date with their cousin only to find out that she's butt ugly. _Then _I'll break my promise. I'm not speaking from experience, though," he added quickly.

I couldn't help but giggle at that. "Sure, you aren't."

"I'm not!" he exclaimed, looking appalled. I shook my head and sighed. "Right. All right, fine, I'll let you drive me to school."

He looked pleased. "Good."

"Good," I replied, circling around the convertible and entering from the passenger side.

As soon as I sat down in the seat, I felt myself relax. It was so WARM in there. I raised my hands in front of the vent, where most of the heat was coming from, closed my eyes, and sighed involuntarily. "This is nice," I said dreamily.

I heard Chad snicker, and opened one eye to glare at him. "What's so funny, Cooper?"

"Nothing. Except you look really stupid like that," he said, grinning. I playfully slapped his shoulder. "Just drive, you jerk. 'Cause if we're late for school, I'm blaming you."

Once we'd resumed driving, and after I'd successfully warmed myself up, I settled back against the seat and looked out the window, feeling totally relaxed and comfortable. And to think I'd been so hesitant to get in the car. Obviously I was an idiot.

"It's cold out there," I pointed out, just so I could have something to say. Chad rolled his eyes at my obviousness. "Yeah, I know. I walked outside this morning and almost turned into an ice cube."

I wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but I laughed anyway. "Must be a lot different from California, huh?"

He smiled. "Yeah. There are some perks about this place, though."

I looked at him curiously. "Like what?"

"Well, first of all there's the fact that it might snow soon, and I've never seen snow," he admitted. I gasped. "Oh my God, Chad, you've never seen snow? Well, then you've never lived! That's terrible!"

Chad's laughter interrupted my babble. "Calm down, Sunshine." His nickname for me, which used to annoy me, just made me grin hugely.

Chad turned around a corner, then went on, "Oh, and the lack of paparazzi is great, too. I mean, sure, them taking pictures of the Chad is always a good thing, but they could get seriously annoying sometimes."

"Hey, that's something I've been wondering about." I frowned. "How come there aren't any paparazzi chasing you around the school, anyway?"

Chad's face broke into a huge grin. "The director of the movie I'm filming gave them a false lead. Said we're filming down in Texas. Hah, I bet they're getting so frustrated because they can't find us." He chuckled, and I smiled. "So this is like a vacation for you, then."

"Yep," he agreed. "Though compared to my vacation in the Bahamas last year, it's waaaay colder. And then another perk is - " He broke off suddenly and glanced quickly at me, then stared back out at the road. "Uh, your school," he finished in a monotone. "Great school."

I made a face. "Franklin High? Great? You're kidding, right?"

He just shrugged in response and said nothing, which struck me as odd considering how talkative he'd been before. All of a sudden there was a really awkward silence between us. I frowned, wondering why Chad looked so tense.

Then it hit me in the face like a ton of bricks. Somehow he must've forgotten that he was mad at me for how cold I'd been to him yesterday at his house, and he'd just remembered how ticked off he was and now he wasn't talking to me anymore! Oh my gosh, that had to be it! I'd been so cruel to him. And, I mean, even though I disliked him intensely, he wasn't that bad a guy, since he saved me and all and stuff, and I must have really hurt his feelings and I figured he must hate me now.

God, I was such a terrible person. I had a sudden urge to smack myself. Or throw myself off a cliff. Are there even any cliffs in Wisconsin?

Anyway, I took a deep breath and then blurted out, "I'm sorry."

We'd just come into the school parking zone, and Chad had stopped the car. He blinked at me, looking surprised. "For what?"

"For being such a meanie," I said miserably. When he still looked clueless, I added, "Because of what I said yesterday. I'm really sorry, Chad."

Chad raised his eyebrows. "You don't need to apologize, Sonny. No, let me finish," he added as I opened my mouth to protest. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel and continued in a slow, careful voice, "I guess I should be the one apologizing. You told me to drop the subject because you didn't want to talk about it, which makes sense because I probably wouldn't want to talk about it either, if it was me. But I kept pestering you and bugging you and it made you snap. So, really, it's my fault. I'm sorry. I won't bring it up again."

He looked over at me and frowned when he saw that I was staring at him slack-jawed. "What?"

"Holy crap, you're a human being," was all I could say.

This caused Chad to laugh so hard that he accidentally leaned on the button that makes the car honk its horn, and the sound of his convertible's obnoxiously loud horn made me jump a mile high and hit my head on the roof of the car. Which just made Chad crack up even more.

"Ahaha, so funny. Just laugh at my misfortune, why don't ya," I said sarcastically, rubbing my head. But even I was grinning. Because, I mean, it _was_ kind of funny.

Chad finally quit laughing and was giving me his usual smirk, which meant that this weird, nice-ish moment had passed. "You're such a dork, Sonny."

"Gee, thanks." I attempted to open the car door, but it was locked. "Can you let me out now?"

"Why the rush? Don't you like being in my presence?" he asked conceitedly. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, of course. But I think I'd rather hurry up and fail my algebra test than be stuck here with you. No offense, your highness."

Now it was Chad's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever, Munroe." He leaned over to touch something, and I heard a click as the door unlocked. I hastily climbed out of the car and attempted to ignore all the eyes that were on us. "Well, thanks, Chad," I said, giving him a tentative smile and he slid gracefully out of the car and zipped up his leather jacket. He winked at me. "No problem, Munroe. Do you want me to drive you back home, too?"

Say yes, self, say yes! "Er... no, it's fine, I don't want to take up too much of your time." And I said no to a free ride. Further proof that I'm a freaking idiot.

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. Now go fail that algebra test."

"Thank you, Mr. Supportive."

"Any time."

I scoffed at him, then turned and started to walk away as casually as possible, which was hard considering I was pretty self conscious of the gazes of my fellow students following me. And their whispers. Oy vey.

"Oh, hey, Sonny!" Chad's voice called from behind. I turned cautiously to face him. There was a freshman girl standing next to him holding a paper and pencil, probably wanting his autograph, but for the moment he ignored her as he called out to me, "That guy at the party. What's his name?"

I hesitated. "James Conroy." The whispers around me increased in volume. Well, that was never good.

Chad frowned, but all he said was, "What a loser." With that, he turned to the freshman girl and proceeded to sign her paper. I figured he didn't want to talk to me anymore, so I ran off to class. This is the part where I failed my algebra test, and I really don't even want to think about that so I'm gonna skip over it.

The rest of the day was fairly ok-ish. Well, besides the fact that I could hear people muttering amongst themselves when I passed by, and when I turned to look at them they'd abruptly quit talking and stare guiltily at the wall. And also not counting that I saw James three times today, and each time I saw him with that senior girl he was with at the party (I guess she's his new girlfriend), I keep having the urge to bang my head on my locker. Just because I was so stupid to think that James was actually interested in me for _me_. I should have known he only cared about sex. Blegh.

And since people have been gossiping about what happened at the party, Lucy found out. She came running over to me at the beginning of history class and attacked me with a huge hug, bawling about how she felt so bad for me and why didn't I tell her and she was going to punch James when she saw him next.

It was enough to almost make me break down into tears, too. I didn't, though, because apparently I was all out of tears. Figures.

Getting off track. My point is, my day was ok.

Then at lunch things got a little weird. And confusing (well, it was confusing for me at first, anyway, just because I'm apparently so stupid nowadays).

Luce and I were going to lunch, when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to see Tawni glaring at me, looking furious. Trust me, you do not want to see a furious Tawni. It was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my entire life (that's saying something)! "Allison, why didn't you answer your phone? I called you twelve times today!"

"My phone was off," I said, feeling bewildered. She somehow managed to snort in a dainty way. "Urgh. You're so annoying. Look, I need to talk to you, so ditch Lulu for a second and come with me."

"My name's Lucy," Luce pointed out, looking ticked.

"Whatever." Tawni switched her glare back on me. "Well, come on, we don't have all day!" She whirled around and stalked off down the hallway. The crowd parted before her like the Red Sea parted for Moses.

Wow. The powers of popularity are just incredible.

"Sonny, be careful. It might be a trap," Lucy whispered to me, her eyes wide. "If you follow her she might strangle you and blame it on the school mascot."

I laughed. "I think I'll be fine, Luce. Go eat, I'll meet up with you later." I ran off down the hall to go meet Tawni, who was impatiently waiting for me in a deserted section of the school by the girl's bathroom. "Finally," she said disdainfully as I skidded to a stop next to her. "You're such a slowpoke."

I ignored that. "Is this about our project? Did you think of an idea yet?"

She looked at me as though I were insane. "No." A mischievious smile appeared on her face. The sudden change of expression actually made her seem more human. It's weird how all the popular snobs are human-ish all of a sudden. Hmm... Maybe there's a pill somewhere that they take that can turn horrible monsters back into their former selves. That'd be so cool!

Getting off topic again. Sorry, Siri.

"I have the beginning of a plan to get back at James," she said triumphantly.

"Really?" I squealed excitedly. "That's great! What'cha got?"

"Weeellll," Tawni began, drawing out the word. "I was thinking about how James has dated a lot of girls. If we could somehow gather together all the girls that he's used and dumped, we could finally stand up to James and humiliate him in front of everyone! Because by ourselves we wouldn't really get anywhere. But with all those girls..." She whistled. "Oh, man, he'd so regret using us all when those angry girls give him a piece of his mind. His rep will be totally ruined. And if there's one thing I know about James, he's extremely proud of his reputation."

I stared at her. "Tawni. That's actually brilliant."

She smiled smugly. "I know."

"But how will we find out who all the girls that James dated are?" I asked curiously.

"I thought of that, too." She flipped her hair over her shoulder briefly before continuing. "After James broke up with me, we didn't interact at all. But when I started going out with Harry, suddenly James was calling me on my cell for about two weeks, trying to get me to go out with him again. So from that I've figured out three things." Tawni held up one finger. "One, James finds his ex-girlfriends extremely tempting when they're with another guy. It makes him jealous."

I frowned, trying to gather my thoughts together so I could soak this all in, while Tawni held up a second finger. "Two, he likes girls who play hard to get. Because the more I told him no, the more he tried to get me back."

I was starting to understand what she was saying, but I still didn't know what this had to do with finding his former girlfriends. "Ok... what's the third one?"

She grinned. "That's when I found out that he still has all his ex-girlfriends' numbers on his phone."

My eyes widened. "So what you're saying is..."

"Yes," she said firmly. "You have to get ahold of his phone and get all the numbers on his phone, so we can track down his former girlfriends."

"Whoa, whoa, wait. _Me?_" Startled, I shook my head rapidly. Why me? Are you crazy? I don't want to go anywhere near that jerk's stuff! What if he has disgusting images in his phone? What if - ?"

"Put a sock in it, Allison," Tawni sighed. "It'll be fine. Just get his contact list and then make a break for it. Simple as that."

I struggled to think of something I could use to argue with her but came up with nothing. Darn it. "But... what about you? What'll you be doing during all this?"

Tawni's eyes flickered. "I'll distract James so you can get to his phone without him seeing."

"Distract him how?" I asked.

She hesitated. "There are... ways."

"Like wh - ?" My eyes got even rounder as I realized what she meant. "Please tell me you're not saying what I think you're saying."

"Got any other ideas?" she asked dryly. I was going to suggest that we go rent a squirrel and get it to chuck nuts at him, but she interrupted me. "Look, it all fits into my plan. If we're going to expose James for who he really is, then we have to give this our all." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "It'll be like... a giant performance! We're just actors playing roles. Trust me on this."

Trust the person who'd constantly tormented me for the past three years? Long ago I would've thought that would be impossible. But for some reason I do trust her. I dunno. I guess this is just even more proof I'm an idiot. I should just make a list: The 'All The Reasons Why Sonny Munroe Is Stupid' List. Yep.

Anyway.

After pondering over this for a bit, I brightened as I had a sudden revelation. "Oh my gosh! It'll be like we're spies!"

"What."

I met Tawni's incredulous gaze eagerly. "Yeah! Oh, wow, I've always wanted to be part of a spy movie! It'll be like James Bond, or a Jackie Chan thing!" I gasped. "We should have code names!"

Tawni slapped her palm against her forehead. "You're such a dork."

"Funny, you're the second person who's told me that today," I said thoughtfully. Just then my stomach growled, and I giggled in embarassment. "I think my stomach is hungry. I better go. We'll talk about this later, ok, Tawn?"

Tawni yanked on my elbow and forced me to turn back around to face her. "I'm not done, Allison."

"But I'm hungggrrryyy!" I whined.

Tawni rolled her eyes. "Ok, so you remember how I mentioned that James always wants what he can't have, right?"

I nodded and attempted to ignore my stomach, which was persistently snarling at me some more. "Right."

"So let's make you what he can't have!" Tawni said, actually beaming.

"Huh?" I said brilliantly.

She looked a teeny bit frustrated with my lack of understanding and just further confused me by saying animatedly, "I'm going to be what he _thinks _he wants, but since he already has me he won't want me so he's going to want you but he can't _get_ you so - "

"Ok, less words, please," I cut in pleadingly.

She sighed. "You're going to need a fake boyfriend."

I was seriously starving, so I didn't feel like asking why I would possibly need a fake boyfriend. I nodded. "All right, I think I can do that. I know this kid in my history class named Dallas, and he's really nice so I'm sure he'd be willing to help - "

"That's not going to work, Allison," Tawni told me with another signature flip of her hair. "This person can't be just anyone. He has to be someone seriously hot, someone confident, who James will be really jealous of and see as a potential threat."

"Yeah, but where am I gonna find someone like... that...?" My voice trailed off as I took in Tawni's pointed look. "Oh, no. Nuh uh. Please tell me you aren't thinking of who I think you're thinking off."

Tawni blinked, then dug in her purse. "I dunno, let me check." I watched in blank confusion as she pulled out a compact mirror, peered at her reflection, and then grinned. "Oh, look at that, I am! And I'm pretty! You know what I love about me? I'm always _something _and pretty."

...That girl has serious issues. "Tawni, no. I'm not - I'm not going to have _Chad _as my fake boyfriend," I spluttered. "That'll - it'll imply - I mean -"

"Don't argue, just go with it," Tawni said in a severe tone. "And talk to Chad about it. Make sure he agrees to go along with the plan."

"But-But why won't you be the one using him as a fake boyfriend? I thought you liked Chad!" I blurted out.

Tawni studied me. "I did. Now I don't. He and I are way too much alike for my liking," she sniffed. "Besides, if he was _my_ fake boyfriend, the plan wouldn't work." She studied her fingernails. "All right, I'm done. You can go back to your loser friends and inhale some carb-filled hamburgers."

Feeling more confused than ever, I started to walk away, but then I stopped and said haltingly, "Tawni, I was wondering... how come you told Chad to go save me at the party? How did you know he'd help?"

Tawni met my gaze evenly. "Intuition. Now go away, you're ruining my Tawni-time."

I tilted my head. "You know, Tawn, you're much nicer than you make yourself out to be."

"Please," Tawni said, but she seemed a bit embarassed. Then a frown replaced the slight smile on her face. "Do I have to tell you a third time? GO AWAY."

I scampered off before she could throw her stilettos at me.

So that was my slightly eventful day. I'm actually really excited to get back at James. I'm not entirely sure if Tawni's plan will work, but I guess we might as well give it a shot. Again, I wish I had my lucky socks. Then I'd be way more confident about this whole thing.

And I still haven't told Chad yet about the 'fake boyfriend' thing. Maybe I'll just wait a bit before I tell him. Or maybe a week. Or a month. Whichever comes last.

All right, I've been at this park for way too long. I better get going home. I'll write in you later, Siri, ok? Bye!

* * *

**I'm so ridiculously excited for the later chapters. Especially when Tawni and Sonny's plan gets put into action. xD**

**Thanks for reading, guys, and please review!**


	19. September 21st

**Hey, there! c: Sorry it's been so long, guys. I've sort of been avoiding fanfiction and writing stories after accidentally reading this, er, extremely disturbing story in the SWAC fanfic archive. **

**But I'll hopefully be updating more now. :3 **

**This chapter took a long time. I hope you like it, though.**

* * *

Wednesday, September 21st

**The ice cream parlor down the street from my house, 3:00 P.M.**

_Dear Siri,_

Guess what? Today I got to be a super-duper-awesome-secret-agent-spy-thing (sort of)! For, like, ten minutes! BOO YAH!

Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to walk away from an explosion like the really epic spies do in the movies, because, as Tawni pointed out to me, walking away from an explosion wasn't relevant at all to our mission. And there were no explosions in the vicinity at the time. Still, though. That would've been so neat. She's such a party pooper.

I'm probably not making much sense (this is probably due to the fact that I'm the teeniest bit hyper). I'll explain right after I inhale this delicious looking strawberry ice cream that I just bought for myself. It's so beautiful and perfect and just looking at it is making me drool so -

You know what? I'm going to quit writing about the ice cream now and actually proceed to _eat_ it.

**3:04 P.M.**

God, this ice cream is the most amazing thing I've ever eaten in my life. Though I'm probably just saying that because I missed lunch, and I was kind of starving all day.

I love you, ice cream.

Please marry me so we can have little ice cream babies that I can eat whenever I want.

...That came out wrong.

**Back at home, 4:32 P.M.**

My ice cream gave me a brain freeze. Darn. It was still good, though. And it did distract me from the more upsetting part of my day.

Ooh, and while I was at the parlor, Lucy called me and asked me if I wanted to come sleep over at her house on Saturday. Since it's been almost a month since we've really hung out, I said yes. I'm so excited! We're gonna do all the stuff we usually do, like eating hot wings and having blindfolded makeovers and doing a puppet show! It's gonna be so much fuuunnnn!

Oh. I'm supposed to be telling you about what happened at school today, aren't I? Oops, got distracted. Again. Sorry! Gosh, I must be more hyper than I thought. It's probably gonna wear off soon, though. Darn it.

Ok, Siri, everything that I write next is strictly confidential. Like, even more confidential than all the other stuff I've already written in you, which is already about as confidential as you can get. Got it? You sure?

Good. All right, then, let's rewind back a bit to this morning.

I woke up to the sound a cow mooing insistently at me. How rude. After a few moments, I realized it was actually my phone making all the racket. I somehow managed to drag myself out of bed and sleepily begin to look for my phone.

Long story short, I found it underneath my bed (why was it even there?) and saw that I had a new text message. I clicked on the box to open up my text, and up popped this message:

_Operation James at lunch 2day. B prpred_

It wasn't that hard to figure out that the text was from Tawni, since she was the only one who knew about the whole thing with James. Wide awake now, I looked down thoughtfully at my phone when a thought hit me. When had Tawni ever referred to our epic plot as Operation James? That's right, never. So... was she hinting at something? What was she trying to suggest?

And then I knew. She was trying to tell me that she really _did_ wanted us to act like secret agents! Duh! I almost squealed from excitement when I realized this, because I've always been totally fascinated by anything to do with spies and whatnot.

WHOO!

After changing, I jammed a bunch of spy neccessities that I just so happen to own into my schoolbag, which I will now list here for you because I have nothing better to do:

_- Two walkie talkies (that's right, I have walkie talkies. That THAT)_

_- An extra pencil and paper for note taking_

_- My lucky bracelet for luck (it's not as lucky as my socks, it kind of works. Sort of. Not really. But it was still comforting to have)_

_- A fingerprinting kit that Grandma got me for my tenth birthday (which I didn't get to use, but it's the thought that counts)_

_- A bag of chips (you may not know this, but spies get hungry just like normal people. It's true)_

Be prepared? I was _so _prepared.

Anyway, once I'd gotten all that stuff together, I made my way downstairs, shoveled down my breakfast, kissed my mom goodbye, then went outside on the front porch to wait for Chad to come pick me up. By the time he arrived in his convertible, I was practically doing a jig from excitement. And, you know, it was also really cold, and... well, here in Wisconsin, dancing is what we do to keep warm. I'll just leave it at that.

"Why are you dancing? You're acting like a fool," was the first thing Chad said as he pulled up beside me.

When he said this I happened to be doing something that sort of resembled the chicken dance, so I retorted, "Actually, I'm acting like a chicken. I'm not afraid to act like a fool!" I made a few bawking noises to effectively get my point across.

He cringed. "Ugh. Don't do that, that noise gets on my nerves."

I stuck my tongue out at him playfully, though I secretly stored this new info into the back of my mind for future reference. You know, just in case. "Fine," I said good-naturedly, then clambered into the passenger seat and pumped my fist in the air. "Onward to education! Gooo!"

Chad raised his eyebrows at me. "You're certainly cheerful today," he remarked as he began to drive down the road. "What's up?"

"Can't tell," I said, pantomiming zipping my lips closed before grinning broadly at him.

"Can't tell, or _won't _tell?" he shot back.

My grin faded the teeniest bit at his words. Because it was actually a little bit of both. In the first place, it was totally none of his business. Even if I wanted to tell him about the whole getting-back-at-James-plan thing, that would mean I'd have to bring up how Tawni wanted Chad and me to fake date. And ok, I knew I'd have to bring it up with him eventually, but I planned to hold that moment off for as long as possible.

Besides, I don't want to do anything with Chad that has the word 'date' in it! That would send the wrong message across! He'd think I'm interested in him (and I'm not), and then he'd start accusing me of liking him (which I don't), and then... well, I don't know what would happen after that. Something horrifying. Or humiliating. Possibly both.

I mean, look at this from my point of view, Siri. Doesn't it make sense that something like that would happen?

You know what, don't answer that (not that you actually could).

"Uh," I said in that intelligent way I've found myself using lately. "Well. You know."

"I don't know."

"Ok, it's just... well... It just so happens... to be confidential." Brilliant!

"...This confidential thing involves me, doesn't it?"

Oh, crud. How the heck did he figure that out? What is it with him and his stupid psychic actor powers? "Pfft! No! Trust me, if it did, I would tell you right away." Yeah, right. I'd die first.

"Huh," he said, obviously not believing me.

I quickly changed the subject before he could begin to interrogate me. Even though I'm totally born to be a spy, I don't think I could have dealt with some questioning at that moment. "Yesterday Clifford The Big Red Dog came on TV and I watched it and it was really cute," I said brightly.

I could tell that Chad knew I was purposefully trying to distract him, and I was grateful when he didn't try to ask me any more about the confidential thing. We spent the rest of the drive to school pointlessly bantering over whether Sesame Street was better than Dragon Tales.

So yes, for once nothing too weird happened in Chad's car today. Boo yah!

Now, since I know you're eager to know what happened with the epic plan, I will skip the yawn-worthy bits of the beginning of my day and launch right into what happened with Operation James!

As soon as lunch came around, I said goodbye to Lucy, who was being oddly quiet (of course, I was so preoccupied that I didn't really think too much about it at the time. I wonder what was up with her? Now I feel guilty for not noticing. Well, I'll ask tomorrow), and rushed off to go find Tawni. I ran around for about ten minutes before realizing that Tawni had never actually mentioned where we were supposed to meet. I suppose the smart thing to do would have just been to call her cell and ask, but what if James was lurking around nearby? There was no way I was going to blow the mission now.

Then my spy intuition kicked in. If I had to guess where Tawni would be, the bathroom would so be my first choice. I mean, come on. It's got six mirrors for her to stare at her "pretty" reflection in. Where _else_ would she be?

My hunch turned out to be right, because as soon as I walked into the bathroom the first thing I saw was Tawni batting her eyelashes at her reflection. When I entered, she glanced over at me. "Oh, there you are, Allison. What took you so long?"

"Well, you never told me where you wanted to rendezvous," I huffed. "What are you doing?"

"Practicing for Operation James," she responded, tossing her hair over her shoulder and smiling flirtatiously at the mirror. "I have a feeling this is going to go extremely well."

"If I don't get caught, you mean."

"You're not going to get caught," she scoffed. Then she faced me and went on seriously, "Ok, James went into the library right before lunch started. He should be coming out soon. When he does, I'll get to work distracting him, and you'll get to his booksack and find his phone. Got it?"

"But... what if he doesn't leave his booksack where I can find it?"

"Oh, he will. I'll make sure of that." She nodded in a self-assured manner. "You get the plan, right?"

"I think so," I said, trying to look impassive, the way spies usually are.

She smiled. "Great. All right, it's Tawnitime." Flipping her hair, she turned and began to strut towards the door. That's when I remembered the spy gear I'd brought to school with me. "Wait, Tawni, hold up!" She paused and frowned at me, looking impatient, so I quickly rifled through my bag a bit before pulling out the two walkie talkies. "Here, one for you and one for me!" I said brightly, handing her one.

She looked down at it like it had some sort of disease. Overlooking this, I went on, "With these we'll be able to keep contact with each other. Like, if you can't distract James anymore and he starts heading my way, you can warn me ahead of time so I can make my escape!"

"Um." Tawni frowned at walkie-talkie. "I guess that's a good idea." She didn't sound sure, but I ignored this, too. "Of course it is! And guess what? I even thought of super cool secret agent names for us!" To demonstrate, I clicked a button on my walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Hart of a Diva, this is Walking on Sonshine. The subject is in the building. Over." I grinned over at Tawni. "See?"

"Hart of a Diva?" she repeated, her frown deepening.

I giggled. "Yeah! Isn't it clever?"

"No."

"Aw, come on, admit it. You think it's awesome! Especially because it makes complete sense." I prodded her shoulder, beaming. "Dont'cha think it's neat?"

"Ack, don't touch me!" she yelped, leaping away. Smoothing down her hair, she shot me a disgusted look. "We are _not _using code names."

"What? But Tawni, secret agents without code names are like... like pinatas without candy!" I flailed my arms around in the air. "It's unnatural!"

She sighed and folded her arms crossly. "We're not secret agents _or _pinatas, Allison."

"Yeah, but - "

"No."

"But - "

"We're wasting time."

"Oh, come on! I spent ages coming up with those! Please, Tawni, pleeeaaassseee, pleeaassee, pleeeaassseeee - "

Tawni made an exasperated noise and clutched at her head, glaring daggers at me. "God, fine, we'll use your damn code names!" she practically growled. I clapped and did a little hop-skip-thing in celebration. "Yay! Ok, I'll stay here while you go out there and do your thing. Contact me right before you go distracting James, though, so I can get ready to go through his things."

"Sure, whatever," she grumbled, turning away. I'm pretty sure she muttered something like, "Stupid little perky weirdo with her stupid freaking code names" as she left, but I'm only 94% positive that that's what she said. Who knows, she might've actually said something worse.

Anyway, I waited for a while in the bathroom, eating chips to ease my hunger pangs (smart move bringing those chips, huh? See, I'm always thinking). Luckily, only one person came into the restroom while I was there, and as far as I know, she didn't seem suspicious of my motives. But I threw caution to the winds and hid in a stall for the rest of my time there, just in case.

Finally, just as I was starting to worry that James had kidnapped Tawni and murdered her in a closet, my walkie-talkie crackled to life, and Tawni's voice said, "Allison - "

"Shh, are you crazy? Calling me by my real name will threaten the mission! You have to call me Walkin' on Sonshine!"

"...Walkin' on Sonshine, this is, uh, Hart of a Diva. I have the, er, subject in sight. You ready?"

"I was born ready," I said, setting my mouth into a grim line. Now that the moment was here, my excitement temporarily slipped away, to be replaced by stubborn determination. We had to succeed. We just had to, for the sake of every girl that had ever been violated and thrown carelessly away by James the dumper.

I cautiously crept out of the bathroom, sneaking through the hallway in secret agent style. Darting over next to a set of lockers that were near the library, I did a quick surveillance of the area. All clear. Satisfied that no teacher was prowling around looking to poke their nose in my business, I peered around the corner.

Tawni and James were standing at the entrance to the library. Tawni was speaking to James earnestly and twirling a lock of her hair around her finger, a flirtatious expression on her face. James had his back to me, so I couldn't tell if he was buying whatever she was telling him. I guess he fell for her act, though, because he shrugged off his booksack, let it fall to the ground by his locker, and allowed a giggling Tawni to tug him off down the hall. Right before they disappeared around a corner, Tawni looked over her shoulder, caught my eye, and mouthed, 'Go!'. Then they were gone.

I had no idea how long she'd be able to keep him busy, so I knew I had to move fast. Rushing forward, I dropped to my knees by James' booksack and unzipped it, searching through its contents to find his phone.

I inspected just about every inch of his booksack for about five minutes, to no avail. His stupid phone just wasn't there, as far as I could see. I was so frustrated that I almost dumped everything out of the bag, and that's when I noticed another zipper on the side of the booksack. It was cleverly hidden between two pockets, so inconspicious and easily overlook-able (if that's even a word).

Smart, James. Real smart.

BUT NOT SMART ENOUGH. HAHA.

I glanced around to make sure I was alone. Then, using my ultra-super-super spy skills, I unzipped the hidden zipper with a flourish. A phone tumbled out into my hand. I could've cheered.

His phone was already on. You'd think he would've put some kind of lock on it or something, in case someone ever snuck through it, but I guess he didn't think someone like me would ever have the guts to go through his phone. He underestimated me. It was a bad move on his part.

I easily found his contact list. There were maybe thirty numbers on there, not counting his home number and mother's cell number. Jeez. Repressing a sigh, I got out pencil and pad of paper and began to write.

Fortunately, I happen to be a quick writer. I had more than half of the list complete in under three minutes.

Unfortunately, that's when my walkie-talkie crackled to life again. "James just left. He might be headed your way. Have you got it all?"

I squinted at the screen. "Almost. There's three left."

"Well, hurry up and get out of there!"

"Ok, ok!" I scribbled down the next number, then paused. Were those footsteps I heard? No time to dwell on it. I hurriedly wrote down the last two numbers, then stuffed the phone back in the hidden compartment and zipped it closed. I hopped to my feet, my heart beating ridiculously fast, and turned to run -

- only to slam smack dab into a hard chest.

Well, that was never good.

I reluctantly looked up, hoping maybe I'd bumped into someone I was on good terms with. Maybe Dallas from history class. Or Brandon from science class. Heck, even Chad.

Nope. It was James. Great.

"Hi, James," I stammered, taking an involuntary step back.

He smirked at me. "Hey, slut."

I had no idea how to respond to such a rude insult, so I just stared dumbly at him. Then he glanced over my shoulder and lifted his eyebrow. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing," I said defensively, clutching my pad of paper to my chest.

His gaze moved downwards. "What's that?"

"What's with all the questions?" I scoffed, faking nonchalance, and attempted to scoot past him. He blocked me, a dangerous expression on his face. "Show me."

Well, my secret agent skills certainly hadn't prepared me for this. I went through my list of options. A) Eat the evidence. But then the plan wouldn't work. And it would taste horrible. So no. B) Kick him where it hurts. That was an appealing option. But it would also seem suspicious that I would inflict bodily harm on him just so he wouldn't see what was on a piece of paper. So... no. C) Run in the opposite direction. Also suspicious. D) Bluff my way out of the situation I'd gotten myself into and hope to God that I'd survive the encounter.

I'd just decided on Option D when Tawni's voice said, "Oh, James!" She sashayed up beside James and gave him an adoring look that made me want to gag. "Are you tormenting the less fortunate?"

He tore his gaze away from me to look at Tawni. I could've fainted from relief. "Maybe I am. What do care? You don't even like her."

Tawni gave me a haughty look. "True. But she's not worth your time. I, on the other hand..." She gave him a suggestive look. I mentally gagged.

James smirked. "Whatever you say, gorgeous." He bent down to give her a deep kiss (ugh. More gag), said, "See ya later", picked up his bag, and walked off, but not before frowning briefly at me. His expression gave me the shivers. I've told you this before, Siri, but I don't understand how I ever liked him.

As soon as James disappeared from sight, Tawni whirled to face me. "Well, did you get it all?" she asked, her voice tense.

I nodded. "Yeah. But what was up with that kiss?"

"Simple. James and I are dating again," she said matter-of-factly.

My jaw dropped. "WHAT?"

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Allison." A smug smile appeared on her face. "It's all part of my plan."

"You never mentioned that bit!" I practically yelled at her. When she just rolled her eyes, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. "I thought you were just going to _distract _him, not _go out with him_!"

"See, this is the reaction I knew you would have, which is why I didn't tell you. You're very predictable," she told me with a dramatic sigh. I opened my mouth to demand to know if she was high, but she went on before the words could come out of my mouth. "Look, if you really want to know, I used my clever means of distraction to get James to ask me to be his girlfriend again. I knew with the right amount of lip action he would." She smirked.

Repressing the urge to barf, I shook my head. "I'm still not understanding why this is necessary."

Tawni glanced around. Seeing that no one was there except for us, she turned back to me and rolled her eyes. "I'll explain, then. Once we get all James' exes together, we'll invite them and all the juniors and seniors to a party at my place on Saturday."

"Another party?" I groaned. After how the last party had turned out, I really didn't want to go to another one. Can you blame me?

"This one'll be better, trust me," she assured me. "Anyway, imagine if James, _my_ boyfriend, was caught trying to convince you, Chad Dylan Cooper's new sweetheart, to go out with him again. Because, like I said, he always wants what he can't have. It would be a great way to expose him as the jerk he is to everyone, and also a great incentive to get his exes to gang up on him." She gave me a dazzling smile. "Now do you get it?"

Oh. Well, that made sense now. Except... "Chad Dylan Cooper's new sweetheart?" I repeated uncertainly.

"Yes. You and Chad acting as a couple is key to the success of Operation James." She clapped her hands lightly together. "This is going to be fantastic! I can't wait to see the look on James's face when Saturday comes around."

I shuffled my feet. "Yeah... ok, anyway, I got his contact list and - "

Tawni gave me a sharp look, her eyes narrowing. "You _did _tell Chad about this, didn't you?" she asked in a low voice.

"Oh, well, you know," I sputtered, my pitch rising a notch. "I've been awfully busy... homework and stuff. It never really came up. And we're hardly ever alone together for more than two minutes." I shrugged my shoulders and gave her my best 'What can you do?' look.

"I'm not stupid, Allison. He drives you to school. That takes at least ten minutes," she snapped, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, but - well - " I stammered excuses for a few moments, then slumped my shoulders in defeat. It was hopeless. Tawni knew I was lying to her. "Tawni, I don't think I can do that."

She frowned. "Well, you have to. We're doing this for everyone who's ever been dumped by that jerk, remember?" When I didn't say anything, she leaned in close. "Either you tell him today, or I'll tell him myself. And I think you'd rather him hear it from you, because I won't break the news to him so easily." She raised her eyebrows. "You understand, right?"

In a way, I did. That didn't mean I had to like it, though. "I guess," I said reluctantly.

She straightened up. "Good."

Then a wonderful thought occured to me that made me perk up. "Wait, what if Chad doesn't want to cooperate? Then I don't have to go through with it. I could find someone else to fake date!" I said, mentally crossing my fingers that this would be so.

Tawni smiled. "Oh, don't worry. He'll cooperate so long as it has to do with you."

What did that even mean? While I was pondering this, Tawni took the pad of paper with James's contact list and studied it intently.

"Hey, what're you doing - ?" I started to ask.

Then Tawni ripped the paper in half.

"TAWNI!" I gasped, horrified. "Why'd you do that?"

She handed half of the paper back to me. "Oh, Allison, have a little faith," she said, her eyes sparkling. I've never seen her look so mischievious. It was extremely weird. And scary. It took all I had not to take a few steps away from her.

Tawni, apparently oblivious to my extreme weirded-out-ness, launched into an explanation. "Now, here's what we're gonna do. I'll take one half of the list, and you take the other half. Today we'll call all the numbers and find out which of his contacts used to date James. You can rule out any boys' numbers, I'm pretty sure James isn't gay. And if a girl answers when you call, try to bring up James really slowly. It's going to be a touchy subject, so we have to be careful. Then we'll exchange lists of his exes tomorrow and I'll invite those girls to my party. Any questions?"

After listening to all this in bewildered silence, I cleared my throat. "Um, Tawn, that's a really great plan, but, you know, what if it doesn't work?"

"It'll work."

"But...what if it doesn't?"

Her previous good mood seemed to evaporate, and she glared at me. "God, Allison, what's with you? Don't you want this to work? Where's your stupid perky optimism?" Without waiting for me to reply, she strutted past me, calling over her shoulder, "Call the numbers. And don't forget to talk to Chad!" Then she disappeared, leaving me to drown in my worries.

So yes, the spy thing was definitely the highlight of my day, and it was fun and all. But I'm really, really concerned, Siri. This plan could totally backfire on us, and what then? James will keep using girls, and everything will be just like it used to be.

I dunno. I just don't seem to be very optimistic anymore, like Tawni said.

What's wrong with me?

Maybe I should eat more ice cream. The sugar rush really keeps me energized.

Anywho, I called a few of the numbers, but none of them used to date James. Then again, maybe those girls I talked to were lying. I can't blame them. I wouldn't talk to a complete stranger about something so personal.

And... I still have to talk to Chad about the whole fake dating thing. I am NOT looking forward to that. At all.

Wait... who's that outside?

...

The Coopers are standing at our door. And now my mom just let them inside.

Crap.

* * *

**Please review? :D**


	20. September 21st part 2

**Oh, look, an actual update! After more than a year of not updating and leaving you on that cliffhanger! That has to be some kind of record!**

**Ha!**

**Haha!**

**Ha.**

**Ha...**

**Yeah, I wouldn't blame you if you threw virtual rocks at me.**

**ANYWAY, I do hope you enjoy this next entry in Sonny's diary! I did my best on it, so hopefully you'll all forgive me for taking so obnoxiously long :'D**

**~Ginger**

* * *

**My bathroom, 6:40 P.M.**

Ok, I know what you're thinking. Or, at least, I know what you _would _be thinking, if you actually had a brain that could form coherent thoughts. 'What's this crazy girl doing writing in her diary in THE BATHROOM?'

There is a completely logical explanation as to why I have locked myself inside my bathroom with only you, my loyal diary, for company. No, I am not using the toilet (I could never write in you and pee at the same time. Just thinking about it makes me want to gag a little).

I.

Am.

_HIDING_.

You don't understand, I can't go back down there! I've already pretty much humiliated myself, what with the corn and all, which was not on purpose, I swear, and Chad is being all weird and Claire is being, well, Claire, and my mother is embarrassing me even more and I have a feeling that I'm going to have to take advantage of this opportunity and tell Chad about my plan with Tawni but I really don't want to and if you can't tell by this run on sentence I'M FREAKING OUT.

That probably didn't make any sense at all.

I would explain, but it would take too long, and as much as I don't want to go back down there, I think I have to eventually.

Oh, why can't I just live here for the rest of my life? I could just make myself a little hut out of towels or something, and that one rubber duck under the sink cabinet could be my pillow to sleep on. Or a guard dog. I could totally live off of scented soap and toothpaste so long as I don't have to go back downstairs and face everybody!

...Hey, that's actually a pretty good idea. I think I might just do that! Take that, Coopers!

**6:45 P.M.**

Then again, I might get cramped in here.

And I can't live without my TV, either.

Dilemma, dilemma...

**6:47 P.M.**

How long have I been in here, anyway?

**6:50 P.M.**

They all probably think I'm constipated now. Oh God.

**6:54 P.M.**

Ok. I'm going to head back now. I'll clarify everything and tell you about what happened once this is all over. You know, if I don't die of embarassment before then.

Wish me luck. I feel like I'm going to need it.

**Chilling in my room, 7:48 P.M.**

They finally left! Took them long enough. Ok, I guess they actually weren't here all that long, but trust me, it felt like they were here for hours. I was very tempted to throw myself headfirst into a trashcan, that's how horrible this whole thing was.

All right, maybe I'm exaggerating. At least I lived through the experience! Of course, after what happened, I'm not so sure that's a good thing...

I bet you're extremely confused by now, Siri. Okie dokie. I will tell you everything that happened, starting from the beginning, when my mother invited the Coopers inside our home (and caused me to almost have an involuntary heart attack in the process).

After watching our neighbors casually stroll through our front door, I hurriedly turned and rushed over to my own door. I ran a little too fast and skidded on something that had been lying on the ground, and this made me fall and bang my head against the wall. I grunted in pain, then, while clutching my poor head with one hand, fumbled with the doorknob and ran downstairs. Pain was inconsequential. What was important was to get to my mother and find out, once and for all, if she was truly insane.

Downstairs, my mom was engaging in friendly conversation with Mrs. Cooper, who was just hanging up her expensive-looking coat. Claire hovered beside her mother, looking around the front room with an expression of distaste plastered on her face. I tried not to look at Chad, even though I could sense that he was looking at me as I stumbled awkwardly down the stairs.

"Why are you holding your head like that?" Claire asked as I approached them. "Oh, I see, did you finally realize that your brain size is inadequate?" Ha ha ha. Nice greeting. Such a wonderful sense of humor she had. _Great to see you, too, mini Tawni. Whose souls have you killed today?_ I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from saying something along those lines. Instead, I just ignored her and was pleased to see Mrs. Cooper shooting her a disapproving look.

"Hi everybody," I said as graciously as I possibly could. "Um, Mom, can I talk to you for a sec?" I didn't actually give her much of a chance to respond and sort of dragged her off to the kitchen where no one could witness my interrogation.

"Mom!" I whisper-yelled indignantly as soon as we were alone. "What are they doing here?"

"You mean the Coopers?" Mom asked.

"No, I mean the Addams Family. Yes, of course I'm talking about the Coopers!"

She ignored my sarcasm. "Well, Sheila and I were talking, and I mentioned that my home cooked meals were practically famous for being so delicious, and she said it would be lovely to taste it sometime. So I invited her over to dinner."

Dinner? With the Coopers? She had to be joking. "What? But - But Mom - !"

She immediately took on her rare stern mother expression. Uh oh. "No buts, Sonny. I don't know what your problem is with that boy, but I want you to be nice. To _all _of them. I don't want to have to ground you, so don't give me a reason to."

Ok, that was just unfair. For one thing, she'd only ever met the polite Chad. She didn't go to school with him. She hadn't seen His Royal Highness, The King Of Jerkdom in action. Not to mention she had just witnessed mini Tawni insulting my intelligence! And she was fussing at _me_? "Mom, you don't understand - "

"What don't I understand? Please enlighten me, because, frankly, you haven't talked to me at all this past week, and I can't understand anything when you won't even tell me simple things. For instance, why you were crying when you came back from the school dance." She placed her hands on her hips and frowned at me. She was really never going to let that go, was she? I guess that's one of the downsides of being incredibly close to your mother.

Anyway, I gave up after that. I was not about to explain to her the whole James thing, because then I'd have to tell her about my plan with Tawni, and she would object and take matters into her own hands. She would also probably go throw attack James and throw him into a sewer or something, which would most likely lead to getting her arrested, and then what? Nope, she needed to remain oblivious, for her own good. And mine.

So I hurriedly changed the subject back to the dinner and agreed to be pleasant and welcoming to Chad and his younger spawn of - I mean, sister.

Be preparared, Siri. It just gets worse from here.

Mom ushered the Cooper family over to the dining room, and I trailed along after them unenthusiastically. Upon reaching the dining table, I was surprised to see the whole surface of the table covered with delicious smelling food, including my mom's pork chop (best pork chop ever, by the way), potato salad, creamy corn, bread, and a ton more stuff. My mom seriously outdid herself.

I plopped myself down onto my usual chair, my mouth practically watering at the sight of all the yummy food. Then Chad sat down on next to me, which kind of made me lose my appetite right then and there. When my mom wasn't looking, I glared at him and muttered, "Go away."

He smirked at me. "But I was invited here, Sonny. I can't just get up and leave. That would be rude."

"Oh, please, rude is your specialty. And you know that's not what I meant."

His smirk widened. "Do I, Sonny? Do I really?" Ugh. He was so irritating. I hated how one minute he could go from being kind of/sort of nice, to being annoying and hateful. And to top it all off, he was looking more gorgeous than usual, which just made me mad. I mean, how is it fair that someone like him could be that good looking? It was distracting. And if I was distracted by him, how was I going to make it through this dinner without doing something stupid?

Oh, yeah, and I had to talk to him about the whole fake dating thing, too. Obviously him being here was a sign that it was way past time to tell him about it. It was too much of a coincidence to _not_ be a sign.

So, to sum it all up, I had to make it through a dinner with Chad and his family, then somehow get him alone long enough to inform him that we needed to start a fake relationship.

Sounded like fun, right?

Yeah, didn't think so.

I busied myself with shoveling food onto my plate, doing my best to not notice Chad's presence beside me. (It was a little difficult, though, because he kept clanking his spoon on his plate as he ate, and his leg kept brushing against mine. Hasn't he ever heard of personal space?) Sitting on Chad's other side, Claire examined my plate and said loudly, "Do you really eat that much? Doesn't all that food give you indigestion or something?"

"No, not really," I replied sweetly. "I have a healthy appetite. I'm not like those California girls who starve themselves just to stay skinny."

"Yeah, but a lot of them are pretty, so at least they've got that going for them. You're just plain," she argued.

So in her point of view, I'd gone from ugly to plain? That... was almost a compliment, coming from her.

Her mother didn't seem to think so. "Claire," Mrs. Cooper said sharply, frowning at her daughter. "Don't be so rude."

Claire made a sulky face and slumped in her chair. "I'm just pointing out a fact," she mumbled rebelliously as she stabbed her fork into a slice of pork chop. Mrs. Cooper gave me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, she's not usually like this."

Since when? "It's fine," I said, giving her a smile. At least for her I didn't have to fake anything. She was so sweet and down to earth. Again, I don't understand how she could have produced such hateful children.

Speaking of which, Chad hadn't talked since our short exchange earlier. Strange. Normally he'd have jumped into the conversation with some insult of his own, or at least some bigheaded proclamation of talented and clever he was. Or... something like that. But he was just kind of sitting there, eating quietly. What the heck? That was completely out of character.

While my mom and Mrs. Cooper became engrossed in a serious discussion about needlepointing, I hesitantly nudged Chad with my elbow. Yes, I know, I'd meant to avoid talking to him for as long as possible, but I couldn't help it. I was curious. And mildly concerned, I guess. "Hey. You ok?"

"Huh?" Chad glanced over at me, his brow furrowing. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, normally by now you would've mentioned something about how gorgeous you are," I informed him. "But you're being really quiet. So... I'm just wondering."

The corners of Chad's mouth lifted. "So you admit that you think I'm gorgeous, then."

What? "That is not what I said at all!" I said, glaring at him even while I felt my face turning red.

"Deniallll," he sang. Ugh, how infuriating! I try to ask him a legitimate question, and all he does is make fun of me. I huffed and turned away from him, returning my attention to my meal. "Whatever. Forget I even asked. Like I care about your well being."

His teasing smile disappeared. "I was just kidding."

"Sure you were," I snapped, reaching across the table and violently yanking up the spoon from the potato salad plate. Unfortunately, as I did this, my elbow knocked over the bowl of corn, and the bowl fell, causing all its contents to pour out onto Mrs. Cooper's lap.

"Sonny!" Mom gasped. Chad and Claire sort of just gaped at their mother.

I yelped and jumped to my feet. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, flitting over to Mrs. Cooper's side and attempting to wipe corn off of her. I think that just made it worse, though. She gently pushed my hands away, looked down at her lap for a moment, and then returned her gaze to me. Her smile was only slightly strained. "It's fine, Sonny. Accidents happen. At least I'm wearing jeans," she added with a laugh. This didn't make me feel any less horrible. I stammered a few more apologies, then fled to the kitchen to find some paper towels.

When I returned with the towel roll, my mom had begun a new conversation. Guess what the topic was this time? Yep. Yours truly. I handed the towels to Mrs. Cooper and sat down again, flushing with embarrassment as my mom said off-handedly, "Oh, Sonny's always been pretty clumsy. It's even worse when she sleepwalks. She always knocks things over and wreaks havoc over things. Like a human Godzilla, but smaller and not as angry. Or scaly." Oh, God.

"You sleepwalk?" Claire asked in a voice that sounded like she was barely holding back laughter.

"No," I protested.

"Oh, yes!" my mom said helpfully at the same time. "Once or twice a month, as a matter of fact! Luckily it hasn't happened recently, but we always have to be prepared. Don't we, Sonny?"

I sank down a little bit in my chair. I didn't want to partake in this conversation. At all. For the first time in my life, I silently willed them to talk about Chad instead, so he could start bragging about himself and turn the topic away from me.

But my mom didn't take a hint. Darn it. "D'you know, there was this one time when we went biking, and - "

Dread filled me. Oh, no. Not this story. It was probably the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me (and no, I'm not going to tell you about it, Siri. I'm still a little uncertain about whether or not you'll use that information against me. So just forget it).

This is the part where I excused myself, ran upstairs, grabbed you, and bravely hid in the bathroom.

Hey, don't judge me! I mean, come on. The conversation was already going pretty badly. Just imagine what Mom would have started talking about next if I had stayed. She probably would have spent thirty minutes describing every excruciating detail of that one time I accidentally dyed my hair green. I've honestly done a ton of stupid things in my life, and Mom could have easily picked any of them to chat about. So you can't blame me for fleeing the scene. It was my show of righteous protest!

Anywho, when I eventually did decide to go back down, it turned out that everyone had finished with their dinner. Everyone except me, I mean. Because, you know, I'd gone to the bathroom and completely abandoned my plate of food. I guess Mom thought I'd finished, too, because my plate had magically disappeared. I stood there for a moment, mourning the loss of my food. Then I looked around, seeing that the room was empty except for Mom and Mrs. Cooper, who were clearing up the table. I could hear Claire's voice coming faintly from the living room, so I assumed Chad was with her.

Well, at least everyone had quit talking about me. Mom passed by me with a handful of plates and said, "Oh, good, you're back. Were you ok up there? Were your bowels working correctly?"

Gee, Mom, say that a little louder, please. "Yeah, I'm fine. Do you need any help?"

She waved a hand dismissively at me. "No, Sheila and I are good. Go spend some time with Claire and Chad." There was a hidden warning in her words. I sighed, then turned and trudged to the living room to meet my demise.

Claire and Chad were chilling on the couch. Claire was talking very animatedly to Chad about something (not sure what), and when she saw me come in, she shut up immediately. I waved at them. "Hi. Have you made yourself at home yet?"

Claire scoffed. "Like I could make myself at home in a place like this."

I pretended not to hear her and instead looked at Chad. He wasn't saying anything, just watching me with a strange expression on his face. Ah, might as well get this proposition thing over with. "Hey, Chad, can I talk to you for a second?" _Alone_, I added silently, giving Claire a sharp look. She seemed to get my quiet meaning, judging from her pout.

Chad blinked and stood up. "Uh, yeah, I guess so. Actually, I kind of wanted to talk to you, too."

Well. Ok, then. Worked for me. Whatever got him to come with me so I could explain to him about Operation James.

I couldn't help but notice that his voice sounded a little strange, though. Like he was... I dunno. Nervous or something. I wonder...

I led him down the hallway and up the stairs, into my room. Once I had shut the door behind us, I took a deep breath and turned to face him. "Ok, listen, I - "

"No, wait, let me go first," he interrupted. I stopped, giving him a quizzical look. He avoided my curious gaze and instead examined my bookshelf. After a moment of doing this, he looked right at me, his jaw set in a determined sort of way. I frowned, not sure where this was going. Why was he looking at me like that? "Chad?"

Words tumbled out of his mouth in a rush. "Look, I just wanted to ask you - "

He never got to finish whatever he was about to say, because suddenly a _MOO! _sounded from somewhere in our room and scared us both silly. "Ah, sorry!" I left Chad standing there and darted over to my bed, belly flopping onto it in my haste to find my phone. I patted around my bed covers for a moment, sure that I had left it somewhere there. I finally did find it under my pillow, and it 'MOO'ed at me some more while I attempted to find the speak button.

Once I pressed it, Tawni's voice came blaring over the speakers, "Did you ask him yet?"

Oh, no. I'd accidentally put it on speaker phone. How had I even done that? And now I couldn't turn it off, because I was so flustered that I couldn't remember where the speaker phone button was.

So, in a pathetic attempt to block Chad from hearing my partner in crime, I whispered (in a pitch that only bats could hear), "Tawni, you're on speaker phone."

"WHAT?" Her responding screech may or may not have broken my eardrums. "HELLOOOOO? DID YOU SAY SOMETHING, ALLISON? ARE YOU IN A TUNNEL?"

"No, I'm - "

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! ANYWAY, DID YOU ASK CHAD YET?"

"Ask Chad what?" Chad himself asked suspiciously, coming over to stand beside me. "Oh, nothing," I said brightly, trying to stuff the phone out of sight under my bedsheets. It was pointless, though. Chad casually plucked my phone out of my hands and strode over to the other side of the room. "Hi, Tawni, it's Chad."

Silence on the other end. Then Tawni's voice muttered, "Oh, crap, did I dial the wrong number?"

I made a wild grab for the phone, but Chad held it just out of my reach. "No worries, you got the right number," Chad replied calmly. "Sonny's a little preoccupied at the moment. So what exactly am I supposed to be asked about?"

There was another long pause, then Tawni said in a fake perky tone, "Uh, what? What was that, Mother? Of course, I'd love to whack the microwave with a baseball bat!" There was a click, and then she hung up.

Great cover, Tawn. Real smooth.

Chad tossed the phone onto the bed. Narrowing his blue eyes at me, he jabbed a finger in my direction. "Explain."

I folded my arms stubbornly over my chest, doing my best to look nonchalant even while I was quietly panicking on the inside. I mean, that wasn't how I wanted to begin the proposition, y'know? "Explain what?"

He retaliated by striding over to me and giving me the evil eye. I forced myself to keep my eyes locked on his (even though I had to tilt my head upwards to do that, because he's taller than me), matching his glare. "Tell me," he said.

"Say please," I huffed. Ok, ok. I know, he was giving me the perfect opportunity to go right out and tell him. So why wasn't I telling him? Well... because. He was being annoying. Isn't that a good enough reason?

"How about I don't say please and just keep pestering you until you tell me?"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"_Fine_!"

"Fine!"

A glare war ensued. It was really quite intense.

But, in the end, I gave up. Might as well just get it over with. _Just say it quickly, like ripping off a bandaid. Easy peasy. _"All right, so... this is kind of what I wanted to talk to you about in the first place," I began.

He just frowned at me. Ok, going well. At least he'd shut his mouth. I steeled myself, then explained hurriedly, "Ok, so you remember the whole James thing? Tawni and I devised this really great plan, but the only way it'll work is if you're involved, and your involvement is going to require us becoming fake boyfriend and girlfriend. D'you want a snack? I can go get something right now - "

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second," he interrupted, grabbing my arm before I could skedaddle out of there. "What?"

So I told him everything. About the spy mission Tawni and I had been on the other day, about her dating James again, about the party we had planned, about James's old girlfriends and the phone numbers, and about our part to play in this whole thing.

When I was done, I stopped and waited apprehensively for him to... I dunno, laugh. Or yell at me. Or something. What I didn't expect was for him to tilt his head and say, "Count me in."

I think my jaw dropped about twenty feet. "Say what now?"

He smiled a little at the expression on my face. "I'll do it. I'll fake date you."

"Oh. Huh. Wow. That was... strangely easy. I thought I was going to have to tie you up and blackmail you to go along with it," I said, smiling weakly.

He actually laughed at that. "Like you could actually do that, Munroe."

"Don't underestimate me, Cooper," I warned. He just shook his head, grinning. Then he became serious. "Anyway, I'm not going to pass up the chance to get back at that guy for what he did to you. He's a real asshole." True, true.

"Point taken," I agreed.

"So... to clarify, this is all just fake, right?"

"Of course!" I laughed. Now that everything was settled, I felt much more relaxed. "Trust me, Chad, I would never go out with you for real. That'd be weird. And, I mean, we'd make a pretty awful couple, what with us fighting all the time."

He nodded slowly. "Right."

I giggled a bit more, then remembered something. "Oh, yeah, what was it you wanted to ask me earlier?"

He examined himself in my mirror. "Nothing, really. It wasn't important."

"Okaaayy," I said, drawing out the word to express my confusion. Then I shrugged. "Well, whatever you say. Chad Dylan Cooper's word is law, after all."

He made a face at me. "So sarcastic, Sunshine. I'm reconsidering this whole dating thing now."

"You haven't even asked me out yet," I pointed out.

He smirked. "Sonny Munroe, will you do me the honor of being my fake girlfriend?"

I mock curtsied. "Why, yes, good sir, how kind of you to ask."

"Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful fake relationship to me." He extended his arm out to me, and I took it, linking my arm around the crook of his elbow like they do in the old movies. "Let us proceed downstairs then, m'lady!" he said with a wink. We bantered teasingly a little more as we walked downstairs, then unlinked our arms as we entered the living room. After all, this fake dating thing was supposed to be secret from our families, so we couldn't just go waltzing in looking for all the world like some lovey dovey couple.

Claire looked at us a little suspiciously from her perch on the sofa, but apparently decided she didn't really care and said nothing when we sat down next to her. For the rest of their visit, we watched Friends on TV, and for a little while it actually felt as if we were all getting along. Chad was way more relaxed than he'd been earlier, and Claire was being non-Tawni-like. Weird, I know. Anyway, after we'd rolled around laughing at the antics on the sitcom (even though Chad apparently doesn't like comedy, he said that Friends is the only one that he thinks is worth watching. Uh, I beg to differ! Comedies are so much better than Mackenzie Falls. But he does like Friends, so I guess there's some hope for him), they left.

And I was FREEEEEEEE!

Then I came back upstairs and called Tawni to tell her about what had happened, and she spent about thirty minutes chewing me out for not telling her that Chad had been in the room with me, and that I needed to quit being such a slowpoke, get my head in the game, and get prepared to be couple-y with Chad tomorrow, oh, and to start calling the girls on my list or so help her, God, she would -censored-.

Yep. That is an exact quote right there.

Anyway, it was right after I hung up on the queen bee that I realized the enormity of what we were doing. I mean, what if this goes really badly? And how in the world are Chad and I going to possibly act like a couple? We can barely stand each other! What's going to happen if he gets on my nerves and I yell at him and give the whole thing away?

Oh, no. I can't think about this. These are not happy thoughts.

I just need to focus on the getting-back-at-James part of this whole thing. Yeah, that's it. That should keep me going, anyway.

But wow, we sure are going to need a lot of luck, Siri. I guess tomorrow is when my acting skills will be put to the test.

Oh, I just remembered that you're a common bringer of bad luck. So... I should probably stop writing you before you somehow manage to destroy our whole plan. Don't take it personally. I should probably go to bed anyway, I just realized how tired I am.

...you know, I still kind of wonder what Chad wanted to ask me. Then again, if it had been important, he probably would've just come right out and said it. But I guess not. Eh, whatever.

Good night, Siri!

* * *

**Hmm... what do you think Chad wanted to ask? **

**The world may never know.**

**Well, I hope that this chapter made up a little bit for my lack of updating! I'll do better, though. Cross my heart and hope to eat pie. I will finish this story, guys. It's gonna happen.**

**Soo... review please? Pretty please? 83**

**Thanks for reading! **

**~Ginger**


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